Ash Blonde Hair
by writerzero
Summary: Just a Soul Eater story. Main characters in it will be Maka and Soul. Based on the Anime series, not the Manga.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Sadly I do NOT own Soul Eater.

Rated M for 'indecent' moments.

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><p>Soul Eater Evans sat in his seat, seemingly radiating aloofness. It usually came easy to him, as it should after so many years of practice. At the ripe age of four, faced with the crowd that had shown up for the school's talent contest the piano prodigy, kindergartener Soul Evans, had turned white and fainted. It was an event his father had deemed intolerable and had immediately sent him off to a number of doctors, including a psychiatrist, to deal with his 'irrational' fear of crowds. Since then Soul Evans had radiated aloofness.<p>

_It should be easy by now, _he thought. He caught a glimpse of ash blonde hair out of the corner of his eye. Maka, turning, poked him and whispered, "get to work on the assignment Soul." Smiling at her he worked hard at radiating aloofness. _It should be easy by now, _he thought, _so why is it so difficult around her._

"Maka, assignments are so uncool." He worked to apply all the techniques those doctors had taught him so long ago.

"Your choice Soul, do the assignment now or after school when I MAKA CHOP you. Either way it is getting done." Her green eyes stared at him, uncompromisingly, and he found himself working not just to maintain his aloofness but his breathing as well. _How many MAKA CHOPS would she give me now if I just leaned forward and kissed her, _he wondered.

"Earth to Soul, Earth to Soul." Maka frowned and poked him again. "Tell you what Soul, get an A on the assignment and you will get a coupon exempting you from one MAKA CHOP." Maka, frustrated with getting Soul to work on the academic parts of the curriculum had brainstormed with Tsubaki the night before. Coupons exempting one from serious pain, they had both agreed, might be a decent motivator.

"Whatever." He turned to look at the time. Forty minutes of class left. "Might as well do something to pass the time," he sighed. He looked at the board. "Genetics? Just when are where are we ever going to use this?" he asked, muttering mostly to himself.

"It's used all the time." came the reply from his left. "It's used in medicine. It's used in forensic science. It's used in ..."

"And that applies to a meister and a Death Scythe how?" he interrupted her. "We just use the bandages, we don't make em. And it's pretty obvious what we are supposed to kill when we come across it."

From his left came a sigh. "Soul ..." Her tone now boarding on the point where she would MAKA CHOP him soon.

"Hey Maka you mind, some quiet while I'm trying to do the assignment." Soul gave a little smile as she snorted.

He reread the assignment on the board, 'Using a physical characteristic you possess describe how inheritance works to show how that characteristic was transferred to you from your parents.' _Okay, some physical trait ... what should I use. _He thought for a moment. _White hair? No can't use that. Hair wasn't white before that whole talent show fiasco. Hrmm ... eyes maybe? Nah._ A flicker of ash blonde hair distracts him. _Oh hell, that's much more interesting than my hair or eyes._ On the paper he wrote:

Maka: hair color, ash blond.

Spirit: hair color, dark red

Kami: hair color, auburn

Opening his biology book he gives another sigh, "so uncool." He doesn't notice Maka's grin upon hearing that. _Hrm, hair color, lets see ... amount of eumelanin and pheomelanin determine hair color. Little eumelanin equals blonde, more equals brown, tons and tons equals black. The more the pheomelanin the redder. Simple. Eight genes, work in an additive way... Pheomelanin, leading to red hair, results from defective MC1R genes. _He ponders. _Hey cool! I can tell Maka her father has defective genes! That will make her day. Maybe an extra coupon. Now where was I... _ Zzzzzzz!

"Omph!" He snaps awake as a certain someone from his left jabs him hard. He turns to glare at her for a second before resuming his reading. _Denote a gene that is turned on, produces eumelanin, as H and a gene that is turned off as h... _I wonder, _just how uncool of me would it be to slap myself now to keep awake._ He looks to his left. _Or I could just kiss her and have her MAKA CHOP the heck out of me. Be no worries about any assignment then, just pain and pain and more pain ..._

Flipping through the pages he comes to an hair color chart. _AH!_ He thinks. _Lets see auburn._ Turning to his paper he adds 'HHHHHHhh' beside Kami's hair color. _Woot, _he thinks. _Dark red, simple. _He adds, 'HHHHHHHH' next to Spirit's hair color. _Simple, and now Maka's hair ... no no no, don't drool on the paper IDIOT!_ Hrm. No listing there with her hair color. He turns and looks at Maka's hair, trying to think through how the eumelanin and pheomelanin production would relate to her hair.

Turning towards him she hisses, "What?"

"Huh?" He replies.

"'Why are you staring at me?"

"Oh." He thinks for a moment. "Did you know your father has defective genes?"

She blinks. Momentarily confused. "Of course I know he has defective genes IDIOT! He's defective isn't he?"

"Just wondering." He turns back to his book and reads more._ Slowly, as he reads he starts to feel a bit queasy. _He glances at his paper. _No matter which way you slice or dice it, it's still just two h's. _He reads some more. _Blond hair can have almost any proportion of pheomelanin and eumelanin, so long as both amounts remain small._ He taps his pencil on the table a few times, thinking. _But how can the pheomelanin be only in small amounts? And how can the eumelanin be in small amounts? She has only two genes that are not eumelanin or pehomelanin producing to work with... _Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap,...

"Omph!" He turns. "Stop that Maka!" He rubs his side where she had poked him, hard.

"Then stop tapping, it's annoying, and get to work!"

Glaring at her, muttering, "slave driver", he turns back the paper he had been staring at before her interruption. _Okay, simple process of elimination. Given the genes we have to work with here what possible combinations can there be. Four H's from her father. At most two h's from her mother, rest H's._ At the bottom of the page he scribbles, 'HHHHHHhh, HHHHHHHh, HHHHHHHH - possible genotypes for Maka's hair.' _She has at least one of the defective MC1R genes he notes from her father... FUCK! For that hair color she needs at least three h's. I think. If not four. Assume she has two defective MC1R genes... no, then she would be a redhead..._ Sighing, he scribbles, 'THIS DOES NOT WORK OUT!', so the paper now read:

Maka: hair color, ash blond.

Spirit: hair color, dark red, HHHHHHHH

Kami: hair color, auburn, HHHHHHhh

HHHHHHhh, HHHHHHHh, HHHHHHHH - possible genotypes for Maka's hair.

THIS DOES NOT WORK OUT!

"How's the assignment going Soul?" Maka asks, making him jump, and he tries to cover the paper.

"Assignment? What assignment?" He replies! Working, really really hard at aloofness now!

"Soul, just what were you doing if not the assignment?" He can feel the MAKA CHOPS that tone promises. _Cool, aloof, guys do not cringe, no matter what, _ came the thought. _Internally he cringed and envisioned MAKA CHOP after MAKA CHOP that left him a broken mass of pain. At least if I had just kissed her I would have had something for all that pain._

"Nothing Maka! Remember cool guys do not do assignments." He cringed at the stare he could feel coming from her even though he tried to make it seem he was just idly sitting back watching the clock, not looking at her.

"Grrrrrr... What's on the paper?"

"Paper? Oh, nothing. Just music stuff." He yawned.

"Let me see it." came the command.

"Really Maka, what would you do with something you can't even read?" he drawled. _Wonder how much a good helmet would cost! And just how many MAKA CHOPS would one be good against. _The vision of books falling out of a clear blue sky to hit him again and again just wouldn't leave his mind.

"Okay class, pass in the assignment on the way out. Tomorrow if those delivery people don't get the elephants delivered then we will just dissect the delivery people and forget about the elephants." came Stein's voice. Eager to get out of the class and dispose of the paper Soul stands up and makes his way to the door, leaving Maka staring at him. He walks fast. _Yeah, just a fast walk, _he thought. _Cool guys do not rush._

"Liz! Patty! Get that paper from Soul!" The command echoed throughout the room he had just left, prompting Soul to make a dash for it. Unfortunately he had just been, in his 'not' rush, pushing his way between the two sisters. Each grabbed one arm, after which Liz easily took the paper from him. Arms immobilized he tried to grab it with his teeth. _Screw coolness, _he thought._ I will be extra cool later to make up for it._ He stretches his neck further, making another fruitless grab for the paper with his teeth. The two sisters are now staring at him, not sure what to make of his antics. The rest of their group, Tsubaki, Black Star, and Kid are now gathered around, also staring at him.

Knowing Maka could reach them at any time he starts to panic. "Liz!" he says. "Before you give that paper to Maka read what's on it and think whether or not you want her to see it."

Maka rushes out of the room where they had been. Handing in her assignment, along with a few words with Stein, had taken priority over chasing Soul and she had placed her hopes on the Thompson sisters. _And I see I wasn't disappointed,_ she grinned. _Now to see what's on that paper. I could have sworn he was doing the assignment._ "So Liz, just what is on that paper?"

"Just a second Maka, I'm reading it." Liz replies absently. "Hrm" she mutters lowly as she studies the paper. As she realizes what the contents of the paper implies her face goes white! "Oh crap!" she utters!

"What?" asks Maka, reaching for the paper. Looking up Liz sees Maka reaching for the paper with the others pressing closer, looking curious. Desperate, with no time to think, she balls the paper up and shoves it down her blouse.

"Huh?" Maka stares, her hand still in midair. "Liz, what are you doing?"

Desperate Liz looks at Soul, who shrugs helplessly. "Ummm..." She tries to think. "It's just a piece of paper Maka, no big deal. Anyway, I'm heading back home to relax some." She moves to leave, but Maka blocks her.

"The paper Liz!"

"It's just an assignment Maka. Nothing to get worked up over."

"If that's the case then you won't mind handing it over will you?"

"You probably won't like what it's about." Liz's brain can't come up with a better response on the spot.

"Oh and why wouldn't I like it?" Maka asks. Liz is now backing away as Maka stalks her.

"Because ... ummm ... he ... ummm ..." She draws out her response trying to think of a good response. She sees Soul shaking his head. "...ummm... he did the assignment on your breast size." Liz finally replies.

"What!" Maka turns to Soul. **MAKA CHOP** He collapses to the ground. Maka notices Liz trying to get past her. "Hand over the paper!"

"Why, you know what's on it." Liz wonders if she can push pass Maka and make a run for it. _Probably not, _she concludes.

"I still want to see what he said." Maka fumes.

"Don't be silly Maka. You know what's on it. You've MAKA CHOPPED him for it. It's over with." Liz tries to be reasonable.

Maka looks at her suspiciously. "The paper!" She simply states.

"Let's be reasonable Maka. The paper would just make you angry and you've already punished him for it."

"There's something worse on the paper isn't there. Hand it over." There is a long pause as the two stare at each other. Maka takes a thick book from her backpack. "The paper now Liz! Or I will MAKA CHOP you!" Her tone, as well as the words, indicate books are about to fly.

Liz gulps. She looks at the recovering Soul mentally trying to send the word, 'help'.

"You know Maka, it's just a piece of paper. Sure I might have discussed your breast size, but nothing insulting. Oh and I might have made a few doodles of them on the paper." He cringes, cool or uncool, he knows a lot of pain is headed his way. _Hope Liz can make a break for it, _he thinks, _while she's pulverizing me._ On the pain part he's not disappointed. **MAKA CHOP! MAKA CHOP!** He collapses to the ground that he had just managed to get up from.

Liz tries to dash past Maka, who whirls around hand out, and blocks the attempt. Face red! Eyes blazing! A promise of destruction emanating from her. In the process her hand happens to end up on Liz's left breast. Too focused on the paper Maka either doesn't notice or doesn't care.

Liz gulps and starts to think fast. _Desperate times call for desperate actions, _she thought. Liz had left home when she was fourteen and taken her sister with her. She hadn't learned she was a demon weapon until she hit sixteen. Two years on the street, as well as her home life, had taught her a lot. She grins and looks down at the hand. Looking back up at Maka she purrs, "Why Maka you sexy kitten you."

Maka looks at her. "Huh," she says. Grinning even wider, Liz looks down at the hand on her breast and back up to Maka whose eyes go wide as she blushes. She takes her hand from Liz's breast and steps back. Liz follows her, looking her into the eyes, smiling and licking her lips. Maka takes another step back. Liz follows, a mischievous glint now showing in her own eyes. _Tables turned, _she thought and stalked her prey.

"Come on Maka, all this was a ruse so you could get to play with them right?"

"N N Nooo..."

Liz leans closer to Maka and sniffs her. "Hmmm." She licks her lips again. "Maka you smell soooo good... Soooo delicious... I could just eat you right up!"

Gulp! Maka tries to backpedal faster but Liz follows.

"Come on Maka! I know you want another feel." She grabs Maka's hand and places it on her breast.

"Uugghhh!" Maka utters and tries to pull away.

Giggling, Liz raises the hand to her lips and licks it. Licking one of the fingers she looks at Maka, grins, and starts to slide it into her mouth, sucking on it.

"Uugghhh!" Maka, practically glowing red from blushing now, frenetically pulls away and flees. In two seconds she disappears around a corner, the sounds of her running footsteps still echoing.

Liz bursts out laughing. "Well that was fun," she says as the whole gang turns to look at her. For some reason all the guys, Black Star, Kid, and Soul, have their backpacks strategically placed in front of them. Everyone keeps staring at her. "Well it worked didn't it?" she laughs.

Turning serious she looks at Soul. "This, I think, had best be burned?"

He nod. "Soon as possible."

"Hey!" Black Star screams! "Whatever is on that paper is something a GOD like ME should see!" He moves towards Liz. Eyes on her breasts.

**THUNK!** Black Star collapses as a mountain falls on him.. A mountain called 'Advanced Biology 3201' as applied by one Tsubaki to his skull in a move that would have done Maka proud. **THUNK!** comes the mountain again! "Touch her _there_ Back Star," Tsubaki exclaims, 'and you die!" **Thunk! **comes the mountain again! "Got it Black Star!" **Thunk! **Tsubaki swings the book one last time onto the now unconscious Black Star's head! **Thunk!** Tsubaki looks up to find everyone now staring at her. "I will get the damn paper," she says, red cheeked, and moves towards Liz.

_Craps, _thinks Liz, _is there no end to this!_ "PattySoul stopher!" comes the quick command. The two move into action by reflex and tackle Tsubaki. Liz looks up to see Kid eyeing her. "Hey Kid aren't those tiles on the floor pretty symmetrical?" she asks, letting her eyes go wide and looking down. By reflex, unable to help himself, he looks down at the tiles.

"Symmetry, oh beautiful symmetry_,"_ he sighs.

With a desperate, quick motion, Liz pulls the paper from her blouse with her left hand while her right grabs a lighter from her pocket. "Burn! Freaking burn!" she mutters at the paper as the fire catches hold of it and turns it to ash. _Oh so beautiful ashes, _she thinks, looking at the ashes.

Soul and Patty let Tsubaki up. "What the heck was that all about?" she queries.

Soul and Liz look at each, then at Tsubaki. Then they look at Kid who is down on all four staring at the floor, muttering, "beautiful symmetry." They look at the still unconscious Black Star.

Looking back at each other Liz says, "We will never talk of this with anyone! Agreed?"

Soul nods and adds, "agreed!"

"But you're going to tell me sis, right?" asks Patty. Liz shudders at the thought of her sister getting her hands on that knowledge.

"Come on Patty, we need to get Kid home. Wish I could have though of another way of putting him out of commission for a while but desperate times call for desperate means." She grabs Kid's right arm while Patty grabs his left.

"You are going to tell me, right sis?" asks Patty again. Together the two sisters drag Death the Kid off even as he mumbles about symmetry. A few seconds later around the corner comes the question, "sis, do you _like like_ Maka?"

Tsubaki turns to stare at Soul. "What was on that paper? she asks.

"You don't want to know. Trust me, you don't want to know. I wish I didn't know." Rubbing his battered head he turns and leaves.

Tsubaki sighs. _And here I am dragging him home again,_ she thinks, looking down at Black Star. She grabs him by the legs and starts towing him away. She pauses. "Just what the hell was on that paper", she mutters before continuing. A few moments later she rounds the corner and there is a thunking sound that repeats several times as she drags Black Star down some steps.

Maka huddled in a corner of the library. _Books, beautiful books_, _books enough to MAKA CHOP anyone who comes near!_ Was the though running through her head Around her five students lay unconscious on the ground - the result of startling the traumatized Maka. Squeak! Maka jumps and **MAKA CHOPS!** another student whose only crime was having a pair of squeaky sneakers. The first student to be MAKA CHOPPED moans. **MAKA CHOP!** The student returns to unconsciousness. Five minutes later Maka looks up. She looks at the students littering the floor. _Damn! _came the thought. _I was played. I think I was anyway. I 'HOPE' I was._ She opens her backpack and begins stuffing the heaviest books she can find in it. _Better run Soul,_ was the thought running through her mind now._ You too Liz!_

* * *

><p>Note: Maybe I got the genetics wrong. Maybe should have just made Kami a dark red head too. Would have simplified things. But really, two red heads? Would have made it pretty obvious something was wrong with Maka being ash blonde. Only thing that I really got from my brief review of genetics for this is that the genetics of hair is not fully understood. Still, unless you know something of the field, I hope it works in the story.<p>

Note: Kami is the Japanese word for 'God'. It's also the word for 'hair'.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Sadly I do NOT own Soul Eater.

Rated M for 'indecent' moments.

* * *

><p>Maka fumed! She had arrived home to an empty apartment. Nothing. Zilch! No Soul to MAKA CHOP the hell out off. She had tackled the punching bag they had in the apartment for practice instead. After thirty minutes of pounding the innocent victim with various deadly attacks, and with Soul still nowhere in sight, she had decided to take a show to cool off. The exercise plus the humidity had left her a mess.<p>

Ten minutes in the shower, running the water as cold as she could stand it, she heard the apartment door slam shut. Presumably from Soul arriving home. _About time, _she thought. _I will find out what's on that paper even if my poor books have got to take a beating on that thick skull of his._ In a rush she hurriedly dries off and dresses.

"Damn it Soul! Where is that paper? I want to know what's on it?" She flings open the bathroom door and marches towards him. _What the hell, _she thinks. Soul is there, but as he turns and see her he just stands there. Eyes wide. Mouth open!

Soul's mind was in meltdown mode. He had upon hearing Maka turned to face her, only to come face to face with... His mind refused to accept the image that stood before him. Wheels turned in his head, but gained no traction and went nowhere. Finally the thought came, _oh wow is she beautiful!_ Finally he managed to take a breath and move. He snapped his eyes close and turned away while pointing blindly at her and exclaiming, "Maka!"

Maka paused at the weird, and decidedly uncool behavior. _What the hell,_ her mind repeated. Then as he pointed she looked down. _Oh God, _her mind screamed. A second later as her body caught up with her mind, she turned and fled, screaming, "Oh God," with her arms wrapped around her chest.

Safely in her room she turns and faces her mirror, hoping the damage done wasn't as bad as she thought it was. It was worse. Way worse. The shirt she had on hid _nothing._ A cold shower, plus a rushed process of drying off, plus a white shirt that had been already slightly wet from the humidity in the bathroom, left nothing to the imagination. _No, no, no, no, _her mind kept repeating. Closing her eyes she sighs.

_Not as though I had much to hide anyway, _she thinks. Turning she grabs her usual outfit from a dresser and switches into it. _But then, _her mind continues, _that nothing is half of what I wanted to keep hidden._ She lies back on her bed, head resting on a pillow. A couple of tears rolling down her cheek. She wipes them away with her arm. _Damn, _she thinks. _I wonder if the reason he refused to let me see that paper, and the reason why Liz was willing to keep it from me, was that it was a love letter to Liz. That would make sense, _she concludes. _Not as though I got much in that way to offer. _She looks down at her own flat chest. Sigh! _Not as though he hasn't dated before, but it was never serious. Never anything he would write a love letter over._ Maka feels her heart tear at the though of Soul actually dating some girl seriously. Some girl other than Maka herself that is.

Soul, for his part, was undecided. _Do I try and comfort her, _he wondered. _Or maybe, in this situation, it's best to let her cool off a bit first. I'm probably the last person she wants to see right now._ He sighs. _Damn but she has more there than anyone would expect. Those outfits must do a good job of hiding it. Damn, doesn't she realize just how beautiful she is?_

SLAM! He looks up to see Maka has left her room and slammed the door behind her. The image he has in hid mind of her makes him blush.

"It's your turn to cook!" She flatly states. "And it's an hour past dinner time," she adds a few seconds later. She grabs a book and sits down on the couch to study.

He ponders for a second, _no mention of the paper so that's good._ She looks up from the couch, "And by the way, I know what's on that paper." She turns back to her book.

"Oh?" he finally manages to say, heartbeat rising, levels of worry soaring higher.

"A love letter to Liz," she finally manages to say casually, not bothering to look up.

"A love letter to Liz!" he repeats in disbelief, nearly laughing. She looks up at him.

"It's what makes sense," she finally says. "It explains why you wouldn't want me to see it and why Liz would keep me from seeing it." She wonders for a moment. "But I guess I was wrong. So Soul, what's on that paper?"

_Damn, why couldn't I have just kept my cool that time, _he thinks. _She came up with the idea and would have kept believing it. Sorry dad, but all those bucks spent on those doctors are turning out to be a waste after all._ "Actually that's what it was," he replies, working on the aloofness.

"No it wasn't. You sounded too surprised when I said it."

"That's what it was. I was just surprised you managed to figure it out is all," Soul replies, trying to think quickly but also knowing in a match of words like this Maka outranked him by a lot.

"Bull." she says looking at him. "You were practically laughing at the concept.

Thinking he says, "It was a love letter, but not for Liz. She wanted me to help her write one is all." A thought passes through Soul's mind, _oh man, all this lying is so uncool. I must be losing a thousand cool points a minute at rhis rate._

"Oh? Who did she want the letter for?" Maka asks.

A mischievous glint in his eyes, unable to help himself, Soul replies, "Why for sexy kitten, of course." Maka immediately turns a bright red. **MAKA CHOP!** He slides to the floor. _Why did I say that, _he wonders._ But then, seeing that expression on her face, it was worth it._

"Oh god Maka," he moans, "please stop that."

"I know it's not **THAT** Soul. If it was a letter for me she would have given it to me. Plus she's into guys, not girls. I know, we talk about guys." She sighs. "You know Soul, it's not really any of my business what's on that paper. I mean, what right do I have to demand you show me everything you write down. None. But I am going to find out anyway."

Soul looks at her. "And if you don't like what was on that paper? What if it hurts you?" he finally asks.

Maka pauses. Looking at Soul she asks, "Soul, why would you write down something you know would hurt me?" She bites her lower lip nervously.

"I wouldn't Maka. Not willingly. But I can't tell you what was on that paper."

"Where is the paper now. Why do you keep using 'was'."

"Liz burned it."

"Oh."

"Was it a love letter?" Maka asks, afraid of the answer she might get.

"No," Soul answers. Maka feels a sensation of relief.

"Was it something mocking my chest?" She asks, not really caring so long as it wasn't a love letter.

"No." He pauses and an idea comes to him. "It was the assignment but what I did it on is embarrassing."

"What did you do it on?"

Soul takes a deep breath. _Throwing one's own dignity away for the sake of others is cool, _he though. Turning red he says, "Penis size. Always thought when people talked of penis size it was in centimeters, not inches. Turns out I got a micro penis and I didn't want anyone to know." Soul is now a beet red.

"You're lying again Soul. I know you don't have a ... one of those..." Maka turns even redder.

"Oh, and how would you know? Soul wonders, blushing even more.

"It was sort of obvious when we tried to capture the soul of Blair." Maka blushes.

"Oh."

"And we were doing so well, four answers in a row without a lie and then you had to try that," Maka states. "But that tells me you are really serious about me not finding out what was on that paper. Not that I didn't know that already." She sighs. "By the way Soul, here come the MAKA CHOPS."

Soul runs around the couch. **MAKA CHOP! **miss! Swerving to the left he takes a few steps towards his room. **MAKA CHOP!** miss! He makes as though to swerve to the right but instead runs straight. **MAKA CHOP! **miss! He dives through the door, slamming it shut. **MAKA CHOP!** The final book pounds against the door.

"You know Soul, your turn to cook dinner, so you got to come out," Maka sweetly says beside his door. A few seconds later a twenty dollar bill slides under the door. "Order takeout," comes the muffled answer.

The following morning a hungry Soul finishes off the leftovers from the takeout order while Maka has some cereal. Watching Soul she feels guilty. _I didn't mean to starve him over night, _she thought. _If he would just tell me ... _She didn't have time to interrogate him now and, truth be told, she had little desire to. She gave a Soul looked at her.

"Something wrong Maka? he asks, in a gentler tone than usual.

"Just wishing," she replied. "Wishing you would tell me what was on that paper. It's eating me up inside. And wishing you hadn't seen me ... like that yesterday."

Soul watches her. _That accursed paper, _he thought. _I wish ... _he pauses mid thought as he realizes just what he wishes. _I wish I could hold her and comfort her._ "Well," he drawled, "at least now I won't be calling you tiny tits any more."

"What will you be calling me then, zero tits, or maybe, ms flat as a board? I mean you know now they aren't just tiny, they aren't there period." Maka blushes at the subject.

Soul is shocked! _Is that what she thinks for real, _he wonders. _Maybe I shouldn't be teasing her so much about them. _ "Maka, you're kidding right? You've got more up there than what you let people know. Those clothes do a good job of hiding it though."

"Right!" comes the sarcastic reply. She wonders, _am I really having this conversation on breast size with Soul?_

"I wonder," Soul muses.

"What?" Maka asks looking up.

"Just wondering. I know people can see themselves different from the way others see them. You know, as being fat when they are skinny. Wonder if you aren't doing the same just with ... you know. From what I see right now I would agree with you, but from what I saw yesterday you are definitely not flat." _Are we really having this conversation, _Soul wonders.

"I know what I see Soul." Maka's tone indicates the conversation is over with.

"Whatever." A pause. "And by the way, Maka, this conversation never happened. You are making me so uncool." Soul heads towards the door. "We're going to be late."

"Since when do you care about being late? Maka questions. "Beside if you hadn't taken so long eating we would still be on time."

"I had to make up for a lost dinner yesterday so don't blame me," Soul calls back.

At school Soul follows closely behind her. When they reach the classroom door he stops. Going on ahead she doesn't notice his absence until she's at their usual spot. _And it's another day of school he's skipping, _she sighs to herself as she sits down. Turning around she spots Liz. **MAKA CHOP!** The poor girl slumps to the ground. "That's for yesterday," says Maka. "And for your information I am going to find out what was on that paper." The poor girl stares back at her in despair.

Turning away from the classroom Soul heads to, of all places, the library. _So uncool,_ he silently mutters to himself. There he sits down at one of the few computers in Death City, pulls a notebook out of his backpack, and types in 'hereditary and genetics in breast size'. _So uncool, _he thinks again. He pauses. _But for her, just for her, it's okay._

Several hours later he gives the print command and listens as the printer prints the assignment he was supposed to do yesterday. _Hope this turns out better than the hair color one, _he worries. The top of the assignment reads, 'The history of Breast Size in Maka's Family'. He grabs the assignment as the printer finishes printing it and walks quickly, not rushing which is so uncool, off to class. _At least I won't be too late for biology class, _he thinks.

"Ah, late I see, Mr. Evans," comments Dr. Stein. "Here to help with the dissections?"

"Sure," replies Soul. "And to pass in the assignment I didn't finish during yesterday's class." He places the assignment on the desk. He looks around. "Where are the elephants?"

"The delivery people didn't deliver them, so instead we have these two to dissect." The professor nods his head at two people tied up in the corner. A man and a woman. "I think we will start with dissecting the male today and leave the woman for tomorrow," he adds. "Help me place him on the table," he orders Soul.

Soul grabs the man's feet and helps Stein place him on the table in front of the class. The man, looking up at Soul's aloof expression tries to struggle. The struggle is futile as Soul and Stein cut the bonds currently holding him and tie him securely to the table. "Ah good!" exclaims Stein. He hands Soul a scalpel and using another starts cutting off the man's shirt. Shrugging Soul helps him. Turning to Soul, Stein says, "Since you're doing so poorly in my class, for extra credit, you will be the one to dissect him." Nodding Soul takes the scalpel and places the tip on the man's chest, just below his throat. The man's eyes go wide briefly, before he faints and they close.

"Excellent!" exclaims Stein. "Now class, I hope you noted the behavior of the specimen as he struggled against a hopeless situation. Write two thousands words on that behavior and relate it to the struggle of kishin when they fight. Explain how observing this behavior in a human specimen will better help you predict kishin behavior." Using his scalpel he slashes the ropes tying the man to the table and dumps him beside the wide eyed woman whose bonds he also slashes. 'An elephant tomorrow or else," he says. She scrambles to her feet and flees, leaving the man behind.

"Cool," says Soul as he takes his seat next to Maka. He closes his eyes and prepares to take a nap. "Omph!" he exclaims as Maka pokes him none too gently. Turning to her he says, "You just can't let a guy get some rest can you Maka." He rubs his side.

"Do the assignment," she says.

"Maka, assignments are so uncool," comes the expected reply. Turning, Maka sighs and runs her hands through her hair as though she wants to pull it out. Soul watches the hands wishing, _if only I could run my hands through her hair like that._

"Besides, I don't have a clue how to handle this assignment," he uncoolly admits to her. "I mean I see similarities in behavior between kishin since they were once human and the man, but the end was vastly different. The man fainted. The kishin don't faint. Besides, when we fight a kishin they aren't usually bound, the man was. So how can we compare? It's like comparing apples and oranges, they are two different things."

"True," Maka says. "Even so oranges and apple though vastly different have qualities in common. They are both fruit for example. The kishin at the start of a fight expect to win, they don't start to panic until they realize the fight isn't going their way. They are overly confident. The man entered the room calm, expecting he could put off the elephant delivery until next month. He was overly confident of the situation until he was bound, at which time like the kishin losing a fight he started to panic." Staring at him she continues, "Of course you were late and didn't get to see that discussion between the delivery people and Dr. Stein so how would you know that right?" The tone is accusing.

"Relax Maka, I did do yesterday's assignment even if it was a bit late," he answers her accusing tone with a calm aloofness.

Maka pauses for a few seconds. "Good. If you get a good mark I will still give you that coupon."_ He actually did an assignment, _she thinks, _wow!_ She jumps as Dr. Steins slams a paper down in front of her.

'Good work, Maka!" he says and turns away.

"Hrm, sir, this is Soul assignment," she replies to his back.

He turns and looks at her. "Soul get an A+? Right!" Maka could have sworn he was trying to hold in a laugh as he kept his face expressionless. "Though I am surprised at the topic you chose," he finishes as he turns away again.

_Topic, _Maka wonders. She looks down at the assignment, notes the title and exclaims, "BREASTS!" She turns to Soul to rip him to shreds just as Liz, unable to resist, speaks.

"Why Maka you sexy kitten you, doing a project on breasts. Bet you got lots of nice pictures in there huh?" The voice that comes from behind her is purring. She turns to Liz fuming as Liz continues. "You know Maka, I know a nice private spot we can go to after class." Liz licks her lips and winks at Maka.

Maka, face a glowing red, looks around to see over half the class looking at her and Liz._ Oh crap, _she thinks. _Damn! Damn! Damn!_ "Not funny, Liz," she says to the laughing woman.

Black Star looks a little puzzled. He looks at Liz and then at Maka. Finally he exclaims, "Even a great GOD like ME didn't see this coming! MAKA and LIZ are LESBIANS!" He yells the last word.

Maka sinks down in her seat. She glares at Liz and then at Soul. "There's no where on earth you two can run to get away from me. You are both doomed," she finally says.

"Even a GOD like me didn't see THIS," Black Star yells. Tsubaki slaps him across the head.

Maka looks around. Now _everyone _is looking at her. "Oh hell," she whispers.

Soul cringes, uncool or not. _This is not what I had in mind, _he thinks. Looking at Liz he says, "stop teasing her. This is too much."

Liz looks at Maka and really takes note of her expression. "Sorry Maka, just having a little fun," she says.

Tsubki and Kid, also taking note of her expression, make plans to stay far away from her for the rest of the day. One girl though is looking at Maka thoughtfully and licking her lips. She starts to write quickly.

Maka faintly hears the class being dismissed. She rushes out, heading to her locker, leaving Soul and Liz behind. She opens the locker and takes out a mirror. Looking in it she wonders, _if I get any redder everyone would be afraid of my combusting. It would serve them right. _Then she takes note of an envelope sitting at the bottom of her locker. Opening it she begins to read and then stops. _Oh my god, _she thinks, _the class just ended seconds ago. How could someone have wrote a note and put it in my locker that quick. _She stares at the love note. _Oh my god, _she thinks._ This week is so not going to plan. I'm skipping class and hiding out in the library until this blows over. Yeah the library, with lots of nice heavy books._ She envisions Soul and Liz being MAKA CHOPPED by thousands and thousands of nice heavy books. She's so caught up in this fantasy that she doesn't notice Soul's approach until the letter is ripped from her hand. Frantic, she grabs for it and misses.

Soul glances at the letter and realizes what it is. "A love letter!" he exclaims. "He grins at her, "Seems like Maka is keeping another woman on the side," he says to Liz who has just walked up. Mentally Soul slams his head against the wall. _She's already had enough, why did I have to go and say that, _he wonders.

"Who is it?" Liz demands, grabbing the letter. She quickly scans it, notes it's anonymous, and yells, "Okay just who is trying to poach on MY TERRITORY!" A pretty brunette girl several feet away who had been eyeing them takes off running. "Oh no you don't SISTER!" Liz yells and takes off after her, running only for several step before she comes back to the locker and falls to the ground laughing.

_Why aren't my MAKA CHOPS working, _Maka wonders. _Is it due to my eyes being closed so I can't see all those people stare at me? Is it because I'm too embarrassed to think straight. Is it because I know that once I start I won't stop until they are both dead..._ She opens her eyes, looks around, and slumps down against the locker.

_I will not say it, _Soul thinks, _I will not say it!_ Unable to resist he looks down at Maka and asks, "So Maka, how does it feel to have two gorgeous women fighting over you?" Maka just stares at him. He sighs and sits down beside her. "You know, there are a couple of positive aspects to this," he finally says. Liz sits down on Maka's other side.

"Oh, really?" Maka asks sarcastically. "I sure as heck can't think of any."

"Well, for one, if you look at this assignment I tried to predict your final ... ummm ... chest size. The diagnosis is pretty good. A C-cup. Not so large it will hinder your fighting but definitely noticeable." Soul blushes. _What happened to my coolness, _he wonders. Continuing he says, "Of course this isn't an exact science but given the genes you should have the upper and lower bound is within a C-cup with an eighty-nine percent probability." _Of course that is with the genes she should have, _Soul thinks despondently recalling yesterday's assignment on her hair.

Maka takes the assignment and flips through it. _Given how uncool he must think doing this is he must really care, _she realizes. Noting the work seems pretty sound, especially given it was Soul's work, she pushes it into her backpack. "So," she asks, "if I just wait five more years you will stop calling me tiny tits?"

"I already told you I will stop calling you that," Soul replies. "Given what I saw yesterday I got to."

"What did you see?" Liz inquires and Soul cringes realizing his mistake. Maka tenses next to him.

"Ah! A family album. It showed her family back to three generations. Not one of her female relatives were really flat chested," he finally says. Liz peers over Maka, looking at him with an eyebrow raised, clearly not believing it. However she settles back, willing to let it pass, for now.

"And the other positive aspects?" Maka asks, now actually curious.

"Well," Soul adds, "while it may be a woman you now know you got enough to draw attention. A rather attractive woman I might add." _Of course if any guys dare send you love letters they are history, _he mentally adds.

"Uugghh," Maka moans. "Soul, I would rather not have found out that way. A cute guy sure, but a woman... Not that I got anything against lesbians but I'm not wired that way." Turning to Liz she says, "Understand that Liz, so go flirt with someone other woman, Maybe that brunette you just chased off."

Liz grins. "But it's so much fun teasing you Maka." Liz licks her lips and smiles. **MAKA CHOP!** "Ouch!" She exclaims, rubbing her head.

.

Maka sighs turning to Soul. "You know Soul, I am still going to MAKA CHOP you right now."

"No you're not," Soul replies with a grin.

"Oh? And what makes you think that?" Maka wonders aloud.

"The A+," Soul grins. "Remember, exemption from one MAKA CHOP."

Maka mutters, then turns to face Liz. "Guess it's your turn again then." Liz jumps up and takes off running. **MAKA CHOP!** She slumps to the ground, a large dictionary lying on the ground beside her.

"Ouch! Those really hurt." Staggering to her feet Liz turns to look at Soul. "Soul, just how do you manage to put up with those on a constant basis?", she asks, looking really curious.

"Hard skull," he replies. "It's a part of my makeup as a weapon. Even in human form my bones are denser than normal." Liz keeps rubbing her head, muttering.

"You know Soul," Maka suddenly turns on him, "you did an awful lot of work with that assignment and with that talk this morning and with this talk now. All of which is supposed to boost my self-image." Pausing, she continues, "So does mean you think I'm attractive?" She waits for his response worriedly.

Soul looks at her. Suddenly he's laughing. Maka's stomach starts to sink. _Crap, _she thinks. _I should not have asked that. He's going to say no._ _Crap! Crap! _"Maka," Soul finally manages to say, "Most of the guys in this school think you're attractive. The few who don't are probably gay or something. Half the girls in this school are jealous of at least one attribute you got that I could name. The only person I know who doesn't think you're attractive is you." He pauses again. "Actually I find every girl in this school attractive, so of course I find you attractive."

"What's that attribute?" She asks, needing to know.

Soul grins, "Enough of this uncool chatter. We need to get home and it's your turn to cook." Still grinning he takes off.

Turning to Liz she asks, "What's the attribute?"

Liz grins. "I will tell you Maka but on one condition, you got to do something for me," Liz has the mischievous glint in her eyes again.

"What's the condition?" Maka asks.

Liz leans close and whispers something to her, seductively.

"EEEEK!" Maka screams, jumps up, and rushes off after Soul. leaving Liz behind laughing hysterically on the hallway floor.

* * *

><p>Note: All those maka chops are vaguely disturbing. That is not action I would tolerate in real life.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Sadly I do NOT own Soul Eater.

Rated M for 'indecent' moments.

Thanks to 70Seiji07 for catching a couple of embarrassingly obvious typos I made in the first few chapters. Given how many times I reread, checking for such mistakes, it's hard to believe just how many errors still get through. I used Soul a number of times where I should have used Spirit, making the main theme of the first chapter a little hard to follow. The main theme being that the assignment strongly suggests that Spirit is not Maka's father.

* * *

><p>There was a comfortable silence in the kitchen as Maka pulled the ingredients for some chicken fried rice from the fridge and cupboards. <em>We really should start eating something besides rice, <em>she thought. _Hrm, actually when was the last time we ate something that didn't have rice in it? Other than cereal that is._ She glanced at a strategically placed toaster, where Soul's reflection was easily seen. A toaster that she had actually polished and then placed in that position for the sole purpose of secretly watching him less than fifteen minutes ago. The words he had spoken just earlier that day echoed through her mind, _'most of the guys in this school think you're attractive'._ She found that hard to believe, yet she was pretty sure that Soul had not been joking at the time.

Soul's mind was on the exact same words. _Why did I have to go and say that, _he wondered. _What if she actually starts dating..._ _What more why do I feel this away about the idea... She's my meister, not my girlfriend..._ The thoughts tortured him. He sighed.

Maka turned and placed some chicken along with a knife and board in front of Soul. "Make yourself useful," she said. He took up the knife and expertly began to chop the chicken into small pieces. As a meister and weapon chopping and dicing were things the two of them were very good at. She turned back to the rest of the ingredients, dropping an egg into some water to boil and reaching for the skillet.

Taking glances at the toaster her thoughts continued to the bombshell he had dropped on her, '_of course I find you attractive_', he had said. She snorted. "Something wrong Maka?" Soul asked.

"No, was just thinking of those poor delivery people you and Stein practically tortured today," she lied.

"Well, you know if they would just deliver the elephants..." There was a smile in his voice. The two of them burst out laughing.

"If they do then that is one day of classes I really hope I miss," Maka stated.

The kitchen returned to silence, both of them with their lips turned in a slight smile. Maka glanced at the toaster and the words, '_of course I find you attractive_', returned to her mind as she noted Soul was looking in her direction. _Duh! _she thought. _It probably just means he's a pig like all men._ Another glance at the toaster. _Is he watching me? _The glance showed him to be just chopping away at the chicken. Another glance. He was looking up, in her direction. Another glance. Chopping at the chicken._ Grrrr, _she internally screamed. _What am I doing? And so what if he's watching me, would just mean he's a PIG, not that he likes me. No more watching him, _she determined.

The chicken thoroughly sliced and diced, Soul pondered Maka's actions. She kept looking to her left. Brief flickering glances, as though doing so made her nervous. Yet, there was nothing there. Just a toaster and a few other items one would normally find in a kitchen. _Though, _he noted, _that is one really really shiny toaster. It made everything else in the kitchen look dull. Why is it so shiny? And why is it there instead of it's usual place against the wall on the other side of the counter?_

_I will not look, I will not look,... _Maka thought. She looked. "Finished with that yet Soul?" her voice a little harsh, as she quickly turns around and grabs the chopping board._ He knows I've been watching him, _she thought, her face safely turned away from him turns red, the memory of their eyes meeting through the mirror-like surface of the toaster vivid in her mind.

Soul blinks, startled. _Why was she watching me, _he ponders. Then he notices something new about Maka. In all the time he's known her she's used shampoo that smelled like strawberries, yet now the scent lingering in the air is that of vanilla. "Different shampoo Maka?" He blurts out the question without thinking.

Maka freezes. _He noticed that, _she thought amazed. _Why? How?_ "Well, ..." she started, embarrassed by his noticing and the reason. "You know what Liz said yesterday when ... she did that... well..." she finished her explanation.

"You mean when she came onto you?" Soul asks innocently.

"Yeah," came the mumbled reply. Hearing Soul laughing she turns around angrily, "It's not funny," she practically screams. "How would you feel if she came onto you like that? she asks. Soul just looks at her, a smirk on his face. "Oh right," she realizes, "that would just make your day. Pig!"

"Heck Maka, just watching that made my day. Not to mention Black Star's and Kid's day." Her hand flies to the usual resting place of a cookbook seldom used except for MAKA CHOPS. Her hand closes on nothing. "Yeah, would have been the fourth time getting MAKA CHOPPED with that book Maka, so I decided to move it. I do learn you know, just a bit slowly" His voice contains barely suppressed laughter.

"Not funny Soul. Now thanks to her everyone thinks I'm a lesbian." Maka practically seethes. "You know I might actually want to go out on a date some time if some guy would ever ask me out." At the word _date_ Soul feels his humor fade. Make continues, "Any suggestions?" she asks, referring to the Liz problem.

"You could accept her offer," Soul comments, his mind only half on the question.

"WHAT!" Make's eyes blaze at him, threatening inescapable devastation upon his fragile flesh.

Feeling very vulnerable he gulps and says, "Hear me out Maka." Her approach stops, delayed, not averted. "You know Liz is into guys right?" Maka nods so he continues," she's just doing this to tease you, so meet fire with fire. Take it one step further and she will be scrambling to get away from you."

Make considers his words, then shakes her head. "Won't work Soul, Liz is more than willing to take it further than I am to continue this game." She pauses for a bit. "A lot further," she adds sadly, recalling the research she had done when their group had been formed. The thought made her want to give Liz a hug, just not a sexual one.

Soul considers Maka's tone, knowing that he is missing something. "Then I guess it's down to MAKA CHOPPING her every time she tries something like that."

Maka turns back to the stove, stirring the rice, lost in thought, recalling what she had read of the social services and police reports she had found. _Much as I hate the way my family turned out I got I it lucky compared to her. Very lucky. My father might be an imbecile and a pig but he does love me and my mother would __**never**__ do something like __**that**__._ Maka shudders violently. _Imagine trying to sell your own daughter..._ The spatula in her hand snaps in two.

"Maka you okay?" Soul's concerned voice comes from behind her, his hand touching her shoulder.

"Yeah," she replies. "I'm fine." Tossing the two pieces of the spatula into the garbage she grabs a spoon instead.

Soul keeps watching, noticing that Maka is close to tears. _Something to do with Liz,_ he realizes. "Maka, does this stuff with Liz really bother you all that much?"

Maka pauses. _Does he know ..._ comes the though before she realizes what he means. "Not really. I mean it is annoying and it is making me a bit angry. But I know she's just teasing and doesn't mean much by it. She probably doesn't even know how much it does annoy me. Just got to come up with a way to convince her to stop. Asking her nicely sure didn't work." Maka pauses again. "I wonder..."

'What?" Soul inquires as she stops.

"I might not be able to get Liz to stop but maybe I can combat the rumors in another way." Maka turns from the stove to watch Soul closely, really wanting to see his reaction to what she is going to say.

"How so?" Soul sounds interested.

"Fire with fire of course. I might not be able to one-up Liz but I can match her rumor for rumor. You said guys found me attractive right? Well, if I kiss enough guys in public places there will be enough rumors to bury the ones Liz's actions are creating." She watches as Soul's eyes go wide. Then he goes white for a few seconds before turning red. Maka finds herself struggling to keep from laughing at his reaction.

"True, that might work." Soul finally answers calmly, making Maka wonder if she had misread his initial reaction. "Of course," he continued, "you will also get a reputation and won't just have to fight off Liz's advances but those of a couple dozen guys as well."

Maka considers. "Would that be so bad? After all, I wouldn't mind getting the occasional Friday night date."

Soul thinks Maka's words over, still struggling to get the image of her kissing a guy out of his mind. The only times he had ever felt a reaction that strongly were the times he had seen her in danger. _Meister and weapon, nothing more. _The words didn't help. Slowly, he replies, "Guys will think you're easy. The rumors from Liz's actions plus those the kisses would generate will make them think..." He pauses and looks up at her. "On the first date they would be expecting more than I think you would be willing to put out." he finishes bluntly.

"Oh."

"Of course the choice is yours."

"No,. I want dates but I don't want guys trying to grope me or have to fight them off. A simple dinner or movie, some talk, maybe a quick goodnight kiss." Maka sounds sad. Giving a sigh she turns back to the rice. _Almost done, _she notes. Then she thinks, _a dinner, like we're having now, a talk like we're having now ... only thing missing is the kiss._ Suddenly she doesn't feel so sad.

The aroma of the chicken fried rice fills the kitchen. Sitting down, eating slowly, Maka's thoughts continue. _I love the way we can talk and joke while we cook dinner. Almost like family. I will miss him when this is all over. When he is a Death Scythe ... _Maka suddenly realizes that on the day of her greatest triumph there will be no exultation of victory as she had always dreamed. _That day will be the saddest day of my life, _comes the unwanted though._ That day, all this will end._

'Soul?" Soul looks up from his food as Maka speaks. "Which shampoo do you prefer, the strawberry one or the vanilla one?" she asks.

Soul thinks for a few seconds, pondering the meaning of the unexpected question. "I love strawberries," he finally replies.

"Oh, so do I. I think I will go back to that one." Maka returns to her food.

Soul watched her eat, his thoughts running almost parallel to hers of a few second earlier. _Becoming a Death Scythe will not be worth losing this. I wonder if Blair will be willing to lose another soul._ A pause. _Just where has Blair been the last few days anyway._

* * *

><p>The next day Maka was bulldozed by a rampaging bull called Black Star. "NO CLASSES," came words in a tone usually reserved for his own praise, as he launched himself through the hallways at a speed no actual bull could have matched.<p>

"Huh?" Maka asked, climbing to her feet. "What hit me? What is this about no classes?" She rubbed her head and peered at the doorway leading to the classroom. A crowd was gathered there.

"Seems like Stein got his elephants delivered last night, "answered Tsubaki who had been trailing Black Star, though at a much more reasonable pace. "They trashed his classroom when he tried to strap them down for today's dissection," she added.

"Oh. No big loss there. Wasn't looking forward to that," Maka shudders.

"Me either," Tsubaki agreed. "Though having him as a teacher does means things are never dull in class. It's even easier to drag Black Star to classes now." She grinned at the last part.

"Are classes really cancelled?" Maka asked, feeling sort of disappointed.

"We're supposed to go out to the practice field and get in some practice," Tsubaki answered. "I will round up Black Star and meet you there." Maka nods and Tsubaki starts to head off, pauses and then turns and tosses something at Maka, "catch," she yells across the distance. Maka looks at the book now in her hand. "Just thought you might want it to read," Tsubaki explains. "I'm finished with it, more your type of book than mine." She turns and heads of down the hallway, tracking Black Star by the shouts of 'no classes' that were being shouted in the distance.

Maka looks at the book and blushes. _Lately it seems I might as well paint my face red, _she though as she looked at the book cover. _No wonder Tsubaki thought it was her type of book, wonder though why she thought it was mine? _A quick glance on the back and she notes that it's a mystery, a far cry from what one would expect from looking at the cover. Shrugging she starts to put the book in her backpack when she noticed Death the Kid heading her way along with Liz and Patty.

"The Paper," she merely states to Liz who gulps and weakly shakes her head. **MAKA CHOP!** Liz remains on her feet for a few seconds, dazed, before she sinks to the ground.

"You know, that's not a nice way to treat your girlfriend Maka," Patty claims.

"Girlfriend?" Maka is too stunned to do anything but simply repeat the word.

"Patty nods. "It's not like everyone doesn't know so no need to try to hide it from us." She smiles a sweet innocent smile that Maka knows is not faked. She actually believes that ... **MAKA CHOP! **Patty sinks to the ground. _Might or might not be my type of book, _Maka thought, _but it sure is coming in handy right now._

Kid looks at the two on the ground. "Liz, why don't you just tell her what was on the paper? The way you kept moaning over how she was going to turn you into minced meat last night just might turn out to be true." Liz just shakes her head and climbs off the floor. She looks at Maka and winces.

"But I am going to make my _girlfriend_ pay for each MAKA CHOP," she says with a wink at Maka. The voice carries to several people who look their way Maka though doesn't hear Liz or notice the people.

"You said she talked about the paper yesterday right? So you know what's on it!" The last was a statement. Maka's stare made the son of Death's legs go weak.

"No, no, no,..." he managed to gulp, backing away. "I said she moaned over being turned into mince meat. No clue what is on the paper. No clue at all." Maka frowns. "I swear!" he adds. Maka sighs and looks away from him. Kid silently says prayers of thanks to his father.

"Get to the practice field," Maka tells the three and then looks around for Soul. She sees him peering into the classroom less than fifteen feet away. "We will start practice in ten minutes." Look at Liz she adds, "I got a special training exercise in mind for today." This last statement is directed at Liz who has the sense to look panicked. The three nod and take off.

Pulling Soul away from the classroom door she takes a look inside herself, "Oh my god, there's nothing left..." she says, stunned. Every table, desk and chair has been flattened. Nothing but scrap remains in the room. Shaking her head in disbelief she finishes pulling Soul out of the doorway and pushes him towards the lockers. "Toss your backpack in your locker, we're heading to the practice field."

* * *

><p>"OKAY PEOPLE! LISTEN UP!" Maka's voice drew the attention of her team to her. In a more reasonable tone she continued,"I hope you were all paying attention in class yesterday. We have all observed the behavior of kishin under hopeless odds. Yesterday we observed the action of a human under the same sort of odds. Today we will continue that lesson." The team stared back puzzled, though Soul, she noted, had a look of unease on his face. She grinned.<em> It's good when partners can read each other like that, <em>she thought. Having been warned Liz was already looking afraid.

"Today we will skip our normal practice routine and instead observe how weapons behave under the same sort of pressure. Liz and Soul will be the two weapons we will use for this exercise." Maka's grin has the two backing away, wondering if they should make a break for it.

"Don't I get to be chosen too, like sis?" Patty asks.

Tsubaki leans closer to her and whispers just loudly enough for Maka to hear, "Trust me Patty, I don't think you want to be chosen for this." Tsubaki tosses a sympathetic look towards Liz and Soul. The two sent sad looks back to her, accepting their fate.

Maka started to brief her team on what the exercise would consist off. Feeling a sense of satisfaction, thinking this might even get the two to talk about that paper, she forgot one thing - Soul was as good at strategy as she was.

Backing away from the group Soul reaches out and grabs Liz's hand. Startled she jumps and looks at him. He nods to a spot several feet away from the group. The two head there. "Okay," he whispers once they get there. "It will take her some time to explain the exercise to us so we got some time for our own strategy."

"And what can we do? She's the one setting the parameters of the exercise." Liz whispers back.

"We're prey, prey don't always do what the hunter expects," he explains. "The first thing we do is get our own strategy in place before she's finished setting those parameters and we attack first with the element of surprise.

_Whatever way this goes we're going to be in a lot of pain, might as well deal out some before we go down, _she thought. "What do we do?" she ginned, feeling her heartbeat increase in anticipation. Soul grinned back and started talking quickly, knowing they had little time.

The two move back into the group. Soul approaches Black Star and notes quietly to him, "You got something on your face there Black Star." Soul's hand flickers out for an instant, just briefly brushing Black Star's face. "Can't let Tsubaki see you as anything less than perfect right," he adds and moves away. Tsubaki and Black Star stare at him, puzzled, but then they both just shrug and turn back to Maka who hasn't noticed anything. It's obvious though that she is close to finishing her explanations of the exercise.

Liz meanwhile has approached Kid and is now whispering in his ear, "Hey kid, have you looked at Black Star's face today?" Kid turns to her puzzled? Liz looks at Soul who is now standing despondently looking beside Maka, he nods to her. Liz looks back to Kid and says, "He has a mark on his face, pretty unsymmetrical looking." Grinning she gives a marker to Kid and says, "You know, he probably would appreciate it if you fixed it and made it symmetrical." At the word _unsymmetrical _Kid had frozen, then with the marker placed in his hand and the order given, he approached Black Star. _Neat. _thought Liz, _Maka's two strongest assets are about to take each other out. _

Soul sighs and mutters, "This is going to hurt." He takes a step back during the process, getting behind Maka's left shoulder. Hearing him Maka grins evilly. Behind her he pulls the belt Liz had given from his sleeve where he had hidden it. A part of the outfit she had worn to school that day it was long enough that it could serve another purpose. He steps directly behind Maka.

Maka's evil grin fades as she sees something black flash down in front of her. Reflexes start to come into action but Soul is almost as fast and just as strong, with the advantage of having total surprise. He tosses the belt around her, slams into her back to disrupt her attempts at evasion, and pulls the belt tight around her using every ouch of strength that comes with being a weapon, securely bounding her upper body. The process took no more than two seconds.

She opens her mouth to issue commands to her team just as Soul's leg sweeps under her own. As she falls a handful of sand is tossed into her open mouth, some getting into her eyes effectively blinding as well as silencing her. She whiplashes, trying to throw him off and free herself. All in vain. A few seconds later Soul's own belt is binding her legs. _Damn, _she screams to herself, _where is my team, why aren't they responding. _She listens as she struggles to get out of her restraints and hears Black Star and Kid fighting. _Fighting each other, _she realizes angrily. _Damn! This is NOT going to plan!_

"Get off me you freak. How dare you approach a GOD like that," Black Star yells and pushes Kid away.

"I must fix it, I must make it symmetrical," Kid mutters back and jumps Black Star, trying to hold him down, only to be pushed away again. Running he tackles Black Star violently. The marker in Kid's hand slashes across Black Star's face and Kid moans, the asymmetry now worse. He doubles his efforts to fix it.

Liz had waited, her only action to briefly reach down to _'tie her shoes_'. Seeing Soul make his move and the fight break out between Black Star and Kid she had yelled, "Patty, big sis needs help now," and had tackled Tsubaki. Patty had followed her in the attack by reflex.

Tsubaki backpedaled away. _Not according to plan, _she thought. _Black Star and Kid were in their own private war, Maka was already almost taken down by Soul, and she now faced two to one odds. Of course being weapon to the world's greatest ninja the odds weren't that bad. But she had to strike before Soul got finished with Maka... _She launched herself at Liz while yelling at Patty,"'Patty it's an exercise remember, you're on my side."

Patty froze, "Oh yeah." And had turned to face her big sister, just as Soul, finished with Maka, tackled her from behind. Soul and Patty went down in a heap. The world disappeared for Patty as Soul pulled his shirt down over her head.

_Damn, _thought Tsubaki, _Maka out of the game for now, she better free herself quick or this might not end well._ Liz had backpedaled away from her attack just as Tsubaki had backpedaled away from Liz's a few seconds earlier. Tsubaki frowned as Liz kept evading her, keeping her distance rather than engaging her. _Damn! How long will it take for Soul to finish with Patty? Got to make this quick, _as the thought ran through her head she made a dash at Liz. A mistake. Desperate to close on Liz she ignored defense. The hand of sand Liz had grabbed while _'tying her shoes_', kept hidden all this time while she only evaded now came into play. Tsubaki stumbled back, briefly blinded by the sand she would normally had been able to avoid. She stumbled away, desperate to put some distance between Liz and herself. Several blows landed upon her as she did so.

Soul meanwhile, had struggled with Patty, who despite not being able to see and having the breath knocked out of her had thrashed violently, attempting to throw him off. Elbows had bruised him, knees had almost got him in a vital spot, forehead had smashed him once. _Damn, _he thought. _This is going to leave a mark on me._ _Actually it's going to leave a lot of marks._ Finally he had got his arms around her and had lifted her up off the ground and dropped her. The breath knocked out of her for a second time had stopped the thrashing for a brief second. Long enough for Soul to grab her belt, identical to the one Liz had given him and bind her like Maka had been. Using his shirt he bound her legs. _Damn, _he thought as he stood up, aching. Looking over he saw Maka was still bound, though struggling. Black Star and Kid, he noted thankfully, were still at it.

"Hold still Dark Star, I need to fix your face," Kid was panting.

"I am a GOD you weirdo. My face is PERFECT!" came the response.

Throwing himself forward he tackles Tsubaki from behind. Having just managed to rid herself of the sand in her eyes Tsubaki had been still frantically backpedaling from Liz, frenetically trying to evade her attacks. Being tackled by Soul took her completely by surprise. "Damn!" she yelled as in the process he scooped up more sand and threw it at her. Twisting out of his grasp she threw herself blindly away from the two.

"About time you got here to help," Liz comments as she notes his bruised face and the blood pouring down from his nose.

"Liz, your sister is an animal," comes the response from Soul who is still trying to catch his breath.

Liz grins, "She's my sister Soul. In a fight she's the best backup there is." The tone of her voice indicating immense pride in her sister.

"We don't have much time before one of them struggles out of those belts," he comments and nods at Tsubaki, finally catching his breath. Liz nods and the two of them launch themselves at Tsubaki simultaneous. Still trying to get the sand out of her eyes, turning around, keeping track of them with her hearing, the well trained fighter wasn't a cakewalk. She lashed out with one hand, catching Soul in the face, as she twisted trying to avoid their attack. Ignoring the pain Soul didn't flinch, accepting the damage, as he threw his weight against Tsubaki's upper body. At the same time Liz slammed into her legs. He held the trashing woman down as Liz grabbed her belt and bound her arms. Ripping an arm off her shirt, she then bound Tsubaki's legs.

The two struggle to their feet together. Looking at each other they grin. "You keep an eye on Tsubaki, Liz. Make sure those restraints don't come off. I will keep an eye on Maka and check Patty's once in a while." Liz nods in agreement and he staggers off towards Maka. He notices that she has almost managed to free herself from the belt binding her arms. Reaching down he fixes it. Feeling his hands on the belt she pulls in her legs and lashes them out towards him. Missing. She glares up at him, eyes screaming out violent curses. "Trust me Maka, if victory was measured by number of bruises inflicted then your team would have won." He glances over at Patty who is still securely bound, and groaning, sits down beside Maka.

Looking over at Liz he notices she is watching the fight between Black Star and Kid. _Nice, _he thought, _at least she has some entertainment. _The two in their struggle have done major damage to their wardrobe, both being stripped of their shirts. Black Star's face has several black marks on it now.

Looking down at Maka, ignoring her stare, he asks, "You set this to run for an hour right?" She nods. Glancing at the time he sees just a little over four minutes has passed. _Oh no, _he thinks, _fifty-six more minutes of this before I can get any pain killers. _He groans. "Don't suppose you want to call an early end to it he asks?" Her malicious grin tells him everything, neither weapon nor meister give in during hopeless odds. _That is the way it should be, _he thinks, _and she is right, fifty-six minutes could change everything. Black Star or Kid could come to their senses and either one could give him and Liz a good fight. Or Tsubaki or Patty or Liz might get free. Neither weapon nor meister give in. They might retreat at times, but they NEVER give up._

With their boundless energy Black Star and Kid kept fighting during the whole hour. Neither Tsubaki, Patty, or Maka got free. Now looking at them, Soul felt a dread worse than any he had felt during the fight - now was the time to set them free. Or to be more precise to set Maka free and unleashes all her wrath upon him. Leaning down he begs, "Maka, I'm already beat up okay, so whatever you do to me when you're free..." He sighs. "Please don't make it too painful. You don't want to have to drag me home right? Easier if I just walk." He smiles at her. "Plus it's my turn to cook, wouldn't want blood getting into your food right?" Her glare doesn't reassure him. Sighing again he reaches down and takes off the belts while Liz frees Patty and Tsubaki.

Maka stands up. Everyone but Soul backs away from her. In the background Black Star and Kid are still fighting.

"Using sand?" Maka glares at him.

"Hey, you think a kishin would be above using sand like that?" He grins back at her, hoping to make her see reason.

'You're not kishin," she throws back.

"No, we're weapons. It's our nature to use everything we can in a fight. Did you want us to throw the fight?" he asks, knowing there can be only one response to this.

"No, I just can't believe you won. Of course starting before I gave the go ahead is cheating." Maka keeps glaring at him.

"Oh." He pauses to think. "Really, you think a kishin is going to wait?" he answers back. "I thought those rules were for your team, that I was supposed to set the strategy for mine."

Maka shakes her head and grins. "Good job Soul." Turning to Tsubaki and Liz she orders, "Settle those two down," referring to Black Star and Kid. Soul relaxes. Turning to him she says, "Don't think there isn't going to be payback." She grins at him and he finds himself grinning back. They watch together as Liz distracts Kid for a few moments while Liz rushes in and uses a marker to color all of Black Star's face black. With symmetry restored Kid's reasoning returns. Tsubaki reassures Black Star that since Kid didn't get to make his face symmetrical that Black Star won. His shouts of 'SURPASSING GOD' and "GREATNESS' start to annoy them all, as usual.

Dismissing the group Maka pulls Soul back towards the school. "But Maka, we weren't assigned any homework for tomorrow," he tells her, aching with every step.

"I know," she grins back at him. "But Tsubaki gave me a book and I want to see if it's any good. I need to get it from my locker."

"You don't need me along to get a book."

"I know, this is a taste of the payback that is in store for you." She marches forward, pulling Soul with her.

* * *

><p>Note: Yeah, sand might be considered fighting dirty, but they are training to fight kishin. Which means in training they practice to learn how to avoid such attacks. Also not the sort of fight they usually have with meisterweapon pairs. Not sure how well the fight fits in with the rest of the story, wanted some action scenes.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Sadly I do NOT own Soul Eater.

Rated M for 'indecent' moments.

* * *

><p>Following Maka Soul put on his facade of coolness. Bruised and bloody he still radiated aloofness. Recalling Maka's eyes as she had glared up at him after he had freed her from the belts a slight grin formed on his lips. <em>She had been, <em>he thought_, seriously ticked off. Glad she left that book Tsubaki gave her back at the locker._

Looking back Maka noticed Soul's slight smile and wondered what he was thinking. "Hey, Soul." As he looked up she asked,"How are you feeling? Need to see Stein or anything?"

Soul shook his head. "Nay, starting to feel better already. Just be glad when we get back home so I can cleanup." Maka nodded, and continued towards her locker. _As a weapon Soul, _she knew,_ would heal fast. Combined with Black Blood nothing could put him down for long. Still, _she pondered, _what was he smiling about._

"What you thinking about?" she asked, not bothering to turn around.

"Hrm, nothing much," came the response.

"Oh? Why the smile then?

"Just happy that you didn't have that book with you during practice. After Patty headbutting me twice and Tsubaki getting a couple of hits in there a MAKA CHOP would not have been fun."

"Hrmph. That little exercise did not go according to plan," she replied trying to sound angry. Secretly though, she didn't mind the loss at all. After all it had been Soul, _her_ _weapon_, that had devised the strategy that defeated her. What she felt was pride._ And getting to watch him without a shirt on for almost an hour was a nice little consolation prize, _she thought.

"Oh? I thought it went quite well," Soul answered back, grinning at his meister's back.

'Duh! For you maybe," came Maka's response. _She sounds angry, _Soul thought.

"We probably learned more from it going this way than if your plan had succeeded," he answered.

"True," Maka admitted. _Always be prepared, never let your guard down, expect the unexpected, never turn your back on a foe unless it's dead, _the lessons the exercise taught ran through her mind. An idea came to her. "You know Soul, as team leader I can assign assignments."

"Oh?" Soul sighed. _Here it comes, _he thought.

"Yeah. I think the whole team should write a report on what happened." A pause. "Well except for Black Star and Kid. I doubt I would want to read a report on 'surpassing god' or on 'symmetry'." Maka shuddered. "Other than 'cool guys don't do assignments' what do you think. I would be especially interested in your and Liz's point of view."

Soul considered the fight. "You know my plan had so many flaws I can't believe it actually worked. Black Star could have diverted Kid's attention away from him in any number of ways. Either one of those two could have handled both Liz and me."

"Make a list of those ways in the assignment," Maka ordered. "What about Patty? I was pretty much blind for a while after that sand."

Soul went over the fight he had with Patty, including how she had been initially distracted by a simple command from her sister. "But you know, she didn't give up. If it had not been for the surprise and making her blind right from the start she would have beat me," he concluded, sounding quite amazed.

"You don't consider the way she was initially distracted a weakness?" Maka questioned.

"No. It's not something a kishin can repeat."

"What about Tsubaki?"

"She surprised me. I thought Patty would go down easy and Tsubaki be the one to eventually wipe the floor with us. Instead she let her guard down and got blinded by sand. Given her background she should have been able to keep both Liz and me busy until you got free." Soul looked at his meister walking in front on him, trying to ignore those legs, focusing on what had happened during the exercise. "A couple of conclusions," he finally said. "Don't ever get Patty angry at you and we need a lot more work as a team."

"You think I'm doing a poor job as team leader?" Maka asked, feeling her stomach sink.

"No!" Soul exclaimed. "You're an excellent team leader. That is part of the problem. We're too dependent on you. When you were taken out of action the rest of the group got divided and relied only on themselves. It would have taken you maybe two seconds to divert Kid's attention to me or Liz, ending the fight. Neither Tsubaki or Black Star even tried."

"Remind me to assign that assignment to the group. Reading each other views will improve the team."

"Hrm," Soul stops and starts to think.

"What?" Maka asks, turning around.

"Let me off with no payback and I will tell you how to handle your Liz problem." Soul grinned.

"How?" Maka demanded.

Soul shook his head. "Promise no payback first. And even one MAKA CHOP trying to get this out of me and I will never tell you."

It wasn't something Maka even had to consider. "Agreed!" she stated immediately.

"Use Blair the same way Liz and me used Kid. Have her take care of Liz for you."

Maka grinned. "You know that could work. Just where has Blair been the last few days anyway?"

"Not sure. I wasn't going to jinx it by wondering about it too much," replied Soul.

"Damn! The one time I actually want that cat around and she's disappeared." Maka sighed. "Oh well, when she gets back Liz is going to pay. Let's see how she handles a nymphomaniac cat."

Continuing to her locker images of sweet revenge danced in Maka's head. They were wiped away as she turned and saw Soul at his locker holding an envelope in his hand. _Damn! Not another one, _she sobbed to herself. She watched as Soul opened the envelope and read the letter inside._ An offer of partnership as usual_, Maka though,_ or maybe just a simple love letter._ Maka sighed. "Another one Soul?" He nodded. 'Who is it this time?"

"Kim," came the response. "Didn't ever expect one from her. Not the way she makes guys jump through hoops for her." Maka watched as Soul held the letter, looking as though he were lost in thought. She felt her stomach sink. _He's seriously considering this one, _came the dreaded thought.

Soul reread the love letter. _Just why would she join the herd and start writing those, _he wondered. He noticed Maka standing beside him, her face emotionless as though she were trying to hide something. _Do those letters bother her_, he wondered. _She has to know that I am not going to switch partners no matter what. As for the love letters, she doesn't like me like that. Does she? Then what was that toaster incident yesterday all about, _the thought made his heart race. _Maybe she does... Does she?_

_Kim is so pretty, why wouldn't he date her, _thought Maka. She recalled how at first when they set up the cooking arrangements one would cook and then call the other to the kitchen when dinner was ready. Half the time Soul had been on a date. But then those dates had stopped and they had not just eaten the meals together but prepared them together. _If he starts dating again, that ends, _ she thought. _All those talks we have during dinner would just go away._

Soul's thoughts were closely mirroring Maka's. _Dating means that, going out on dates. It means no more, or at least fewer, times just sitting and talking with Maka. Even if she doesn't like me like that I like the time I spend with her._ He tore the letter into several pieces and dropped them in a nearby garbage can. He thought he heard a sigh of relief from Maka as he did so, but wasn't sure.

Turning to Maka he asked, "Ready to head back to the apartment?"

Maka nodded and said, "Sure, lets get going."

Soul paused for a second and looked at the book in her hand. "Since when are you into porn Maka?" He grinned.

Looking at the cover of the book she held Maka blushed. "It's not porn Soul. It's just an obscene scene that someone for some weird reason though would make a good cover for a mystery book."

'Sure," came the drawled response.

"Shut up Soul or this book is going to meet your skull." Maka used her no nonsense voice.

"Shutting up oh mistress of the MAKA CHOPS." Soul tossed his aloofness out the window and grinned at her. Maka found herself grinning back.

"Really Soul. I'm sure Tsubaki bought it based on the cover, but it is a mystery novel. Or so it claims. Still I dread to think what Blair would say if she saw me reading a book with this cover. Going to have to burn it after I read it since I am certainly not going to give someone else the book." Maka hesitates for a second. "They might think I'm giving them porn and hitting on them or something." She shuddered. "That's all I would need, some girl thinking I'm hitting on her."

* * *

><p>Cleaned up, and feeling much better after taking a nap which had helped his regeneration rate a lot, Soul stepped into the kitchen. There he found Maka, a book in front of her. "Is that the porn book Tsubaki gave you?" he asked innocently.<p>

"Careful what you say Soul, I just restocked this kitchen with books for MAKA CHOPPING." Soul paused and looked around the kitchen nervously. _Well that's a job for after she goes to sleep, disarm the kitchen again._ He sat down in the chair across from Maka and watched her. She looked up. "Dinner isn't going to cook itself Soul and I'm hungry. What are we having?" He remained quiet. "Something wrong Soul?"

"Nay, just thinking."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, maybe we should eat out tonight. We really don't get out enough outside of school or kishin hunting."

"You want me to call up Liz and Tsubaki and get the group together?" Maka asked. When they ate out it was usually as a group.

"Nay." Soul went back to being quiet. Maka waited. _Soul, _she thought, _looked extremely nervous._

"You know that restaurant, the one that got burned down after Black Star and Tsubaki went there?" he asked.

Maka nodded. "Was quite a nice place from what I hear." It wasn't the sort of place they would eat at as a group, being more of a place for dating couples to go to, and as such she had never eaten there.

"Well they got it open again, though under different management."

"Ah. Wonder how long before Black Star strikes there again?" Maka still didn't see where he was going with this. Her stomach rumbled. _He better start cooking fast though. _She had let him continue his nap even though it was way past dinner time and her stomach didn't like the situation.

"Probably not very long. Third time so far."

"So, what's the interest in this place? Planning on taking Kim there or something?" Maka's mood soured as she recalled the letter Soul had received earlier that day.

Soul focused and radiated aloofness. "Nay, But I would like to try the food. Thought maybe we could go there tonight." Gulping he watched Maka's reaction.

Maka froze, her mind turning over the words. She shook herself mentally and thought, _nay, he isn't asking what I thought he was. _"Don't know Soul. Out of my price range." Eating out was expensive and they usually each paid their own way regardless of whose turn it was to cook. Maka's income wasn't up to handling both books and eating out on a regular basis."

"My turn to cook so my treat," he replied.

"You know I've always wondered what the food there was like," Maka commented, butterflies in her stomach. _Eating there would send a message to everyone, Maka and Soul are dating, _she knew_, and he knows that. And his offer to pay..._ "But if we do you know what everyone will think."

"I know," came the response.

"Would this be considered a date?" Maka's tone was neutral. _If this is going to be my first date, she thought, then I want to know it is an actual date and not have to wonder over where it is or isn't. _She wasn't hungry anymore, she was terrified. _What if he laughed at the suggestion? What if he laughed so hard that he couldn't stop and she had to take him to Stein and explain the situation? What if he laughed at her and she died from embarrassment? What if... He laughs he dies..._ Maka held her breath.

"Yes," came the response.

"Oh." Maka didn't know what to say at first, her thought all jumbled together. "Sure, I would like that," she finally said.

* * *

><p>She counted the pages carefully. Thirteen! The number of pages she had written in her diary recounting the <em>'date'<em>. Maka was laid back on her bed, head resting comfortably on her pillow, the AC going at max to beat back the heat and humidity. She was in heaven. _My first date and my first kiss, _she thought happily. _Perfect! _Maka giggled as she recalled what happened when they got back to the apartment. Soul had looked at her and asked her, "You remember what you said you would like on a date?"

Maka had nodded and said, "Dinner and conversation and ..." She had paused and blushed when she came to the third item. Soul had then leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. She had blinked in surprise for a second thinking, _was that a kiss? Sheesh, I'm not even sure our lips actually touched. _ Looking at him she had said, "Soul even I know for a kiss that was pathetic." Reaching out she had grabbed him and pulled him closer, smashing her lips against his for several seconds. The surprised look on his face had been priceless. _Of course smashing was the correct term, _she thought, touching her bruised lips. _Next time Maka, _she told herself, _more kissing less smashing. And there will be a next time._

She twisted on the bed, looking at the time. _Late, going to be tired tomorrow, _she told herself, though at the moment she didn't really care. Reaching out she grabbed the book Tsubaki had given her earlier. Looking at the cover she blushed. _I can't imagine paying for something like this at the counter in a store, _she thought. Idly she flipped through the pages, skimming more than reading, her attention only half on the book. She yawned. _So going to be tired tomorrow._ She flipped another page and briefly scanned it. _Well, other than the cover it's definitely not porn_, she though. _More like a spy novel, cloak and dagger stuff. _She flipped another page. _Hidden cameras and encrypted message. _She flipped another page, paused, and flipped back. _Hidden cameras, _she thought. Maka grinned. _A first date, a first kiss, a way to neutralize Liz, and now maybe a way to find out what was on that paper. This day is perfect, _she thought just before she yawned again and the book slipped out of her hands. Maka fell asleep happier than she had ever been before.

* * *

><p>Waking up early Soul recalled the night before. <em>Did that kiss really happen, <em>he wondered. Unable to get back to sleep he decided he might as well prepare for the day. With the nap he had had the day before it wasn't as though he were lacking in sleep. Showered and dressed he wandered into the kitchen._Might as well prepare breakfast. Sure she normally had cereal but maybe today she might like a cooked meal to start the day out. Besides my life depends on my defusing this kitchen of all those books Maka hid here, might as well cook something while I'm at it. Wonder what she would like ..._

Maka walked through the school hallways, the morning events running through her mind . _A cooked breakfast? Wow! That is new._ Arriving at the classroom she peered in. A few small tables with chairs were scattered through the room. The debris from the previous day was nowhere to be seen. "Grab us a table Soul, I need to check something out." Soul merely nodded and entered the classroom without saying a word.

Maka disappeared around the corner, opposite the direction Stein would be using to get to class. There she waited, resting against the wall. _Soul hasn't mention the date at all, _she thought. _Wonder what that means. But still he actually COOKED BREAKFAST! That has to mean something. I so got to talk to Tsubaki after class._ She heard Stein's familiar approach and heard him enter the classroom. She moved into action quickly, walking around the corner and jogging down to Stein's office. She tried the knob. Locked. Squatting on the floor she went to work. Maka read many books on many subjects. Some useful, others not so useful. The one on lock picking was one she would have before then placed in the later category. Inexperienced it took her five minutes to pick the lock, every second of which she sweated nervously, listening for footsteps, looking around every few seconds scanning for approaching souls.

She entered the office hoping what she was searching for was there. Stein had two places he normally spent his time. A lab where he worked and an office closer to where he taught class. What she wanted could be in either. _The lab, _she thought, _would be a lot harder to search and a lot harder to find empty. Maybe if I just asked for it he would give it to me, no questions. Yeah right. He would give it to me, just not without putting me under a microscope first and dissecting me. Hrm... wonder what happened to those elephants._ She scanned the room, not seeing what she was searching for. _If he locks his desk drawers I'm sunk. _She tried one and it opened. Papers. She closed it and opened another. Oh my god what is that! She slammed the drawer close and took a few seconds to catch her breath. _Were those alive? _She shuddered and tried the next drawer. CD disks. A lot of them, thankfully all neatly labeled.

_Stein puts everything under a microscope, including his students. So he tapes them so he can re-watch any unusual behavior later. Which means there was a camera running when Soul was writing on that paper. A camera that might have captured what he wrote if it had a high enough resolution. And knowing Stein it will since he would want to capture everything down to the slightest detail. _ Maka grinned as she went through her logic once again. She flipped through the disks until she found one label for the day and time when that mess with the paper had started. She glanced at her time. Ten minutes into class so far. It took four minutes to make a copy of the disk she found, to replace it, and leave the office. A minute later she was sitting in a chair next to Soul, feeling very please with herself.

"Hey, sexy kitten," came Liz's voice from close by.

Maka jumped. Turning to Liz she whispered, "don't worry Liz, the plan to deal with you is already set." She gave the girl her best maliciously evil smile and grinned as the brown haired girl shrank back.

"Hey, Maka, you shouldn't treat your girlfriend like that." Patty's voice made Maka jump. _Damn, _she thought, _still nervous from breaking into Stein's office._

"Something wrong Maka," came Stein's voice and Maka jumped again.

"No sir," Maka answered. "By the way, I was wondering what happened to the elephants."

"They were sold to a traveling circus that was passing through," Stein answered her. "We needed to recoup some of the cost of buying them and for the equipment we need to replace in the classroom."

"Oh." _I don't recall any circuses passing through, _Maka thought. Looking at Stein's stare she decided she didn't really want to know more and kept quiet on the subject.

"By the way, Maka, you should be careful snooping in other people's stuff. You may not like the answers you seek." Stein paused. "Though often they are answers one needs to know." He turned back to the board.

_He knows! How? _Maka thought.

"Now class, since the elephants have severely decimated out budget we will unfortunately not be doing many dissections this semester. I apologize for this lost opportunity to properly educate you. Though if there is any more snooping we might have a student to dissect. Stein briefly turned and looked at Maka as he casually talked of dissecting a student. Maka gulped. Soul looked at Maka puzzled.

After the class ended Maka gathered her team and gave them their assignment to write a report on the previous day's exercise. Black Star groaned until he was told he was exempt. Death the Kid looked puzzled at being exempt and offered to write twice the assigned length promising to describe the asymmetry of Black Star's face in detail. Cringing Maka told him it wasn't necessary. She wondered if Kid even heard her as Black Star then started a fight over being told his face was asymmetrical. Patty told her sister she needed a new pack of crayons before she could start the report and asked how much was two thousand words.

Maka excused herself from the group, telling Soul she was going to do the assignment in the library and would meet him at home for dinner. At the library she slipped the ill gained disk into the computer and studied what she had. _That is one large file, _she thought as she noted that the single file on the disk was a little over seven hundred gigabytes. Not sure what to do she double tapped on the file. The computer groaned as it tried to open and process the file. Eventually a movie player opened and began to play, showing the events that had occurred in class that day. At least it tried to. After ten minutes only five seconds of classroom footage had been played.

"Hrm," groaned Maka. She tapped on the time bar at the bottom of the movie player and the display skipped to just before the time where Stein had assigned the project. Maka paused the footage playing and tapped on the help button on the movie player. Twenty minutes later she closed the help file and began to play with the movie player's controls. She snipped out a thirty gigabyte section out of the end of the file and used the movie player to play it. _Still slow, _she thought, _but better. Besides running it slow lets me see what Soul is doing better._ She let the player run through the entire footage, noting with despair that the paper was hidden practically the entire time. In fact the only time the paper was in view was at the start of the footage. She paused the movie player there and snipped out a single image which she saved as a gif file.

Double clicking the gif file another program opened. Selecting enlarge she repeatedly tapped the paper in the image. _Damn! That must be some camera Stein is using to record those classes. I can count the hairs on the back of his hands. _The thought passed through her mind before she read what was on the paper.

Maka: hair color, ash blond.

Spirit: hair color, dark red

Kami: hair color, auburn, HHHHHHhh

Maka was confused. _He was doing the assignment, but on my hair instead of one of his traits. But why would he hide it? _She smiled at the thought of him using her hair, but couldn't understand why Liz would have tried to hide it. Recalling her attempts to get the paper and the desperate means he and Liz had went through to keep it from her she knew there was more to it. _Wish the camera had caught a glimpse of the paper later on in class. _She watched the footage again, noted that Soul was flipping through his biology book as though he was working on the assignment. Writing down stuff as he read, pausing to think at times. _Weird, _she noted. _Why is he getting to agitated when it looks like he's just doing the assignment. And while Soul might have hid the fact he was doing it on my hair Liz wouldn't have, she would have made a big deal out of it._

Frustrated Maka stared at the computer screen. _So close to figuring it out, _she thought. _I guess maybe he started the assignment and then got distracted by something else. _Giving a sigh she noted the time. _Time to get back to the apartment. And to Soul._

Arriving at the apartment Maka found Soul watching television. "Shouldn't you be working on the assignment Soul?" she asked. She felt a little guilty as she recalled that she herself had not started it.

"Did some of it. You can only expect so much homework from a cool guy Maka." He looked at her. "Relax, you look tense, watch some television." He flipped to another channel, and then another.

Maka watched him, an idea forming in her head, something she had seen _couples _do._ Oh hell, if he complains I can always MAKA CHOP him._ She took took the largest book she could find and placed it close to the couch. Taking a deep breath she led on the couch next to Soul, rested against him, stole the remote control and started to flip through educational channels. She felt him tense and wondered if he was going to push her away. Seconds passed. Then he relaxed and instead wrapped his free arm around her. Maka smiled, snuggled into his embrace and kept switching channels until she found one about kishin on the Death City Educational Television channel. She put the remote down and let her arm rest, right on top of his. _Now this, _she thought, _I could get used to._


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Sadly I do NOT own Soul Eater.

Rated M for 'indecent' moments.

* * *

><p>Maka placed the two TV dinners in the microwave and set the timer. She didn't have to look around, or use the toaster, to know Soul was watching her. <em>What are we now,<em> she wondered. _One date doesn't make us boyfriend/girlfriend, does it? So when is that point passed? Does it need to be something formal, like him asking me. Or is it something that can also naturally evolve after so many dates, like maybe after five dates it is assumed? I really should have skipped the library today and talked to Tsubaki. Why can't this be more simple, like differential equations._ Unable to help herself she drew in a deep breath and let out a sigh.

"Something wrong Maka?" Soul asked.

"No. Just thinking," Maka answered.

"What about?" Soul asked, not taking the hint Maka didn't want to talk about it.

"Just stuff," Maka evaded.

"Us?" Soul asked after a pause.

The beeping of the microwave made them both jump. Maka set about taking their dinner out of the microwave and setting it on the table. After a minute of fiddling around, getting forks and spoons and knives and all the things the meal required, plus several it didn't, she looked up at him and said, "yeah, us."

Soul pushed the microwaved mashed potatoes around a bit before he replied with, "confused?"

"Extremely so," Maka answered immediately.

Soul gave her a lopsided smile. "Me too."

"You? Confused? About this?" Maka wasn't sure she believed it.

"Well, before I came here it's not as though I had much experience dating. An hour before school practicing singing with my mother, four hours after school on the piano with my father." Soul shrugged. "Didn't leave much time for dating."

"You can sing?" Was the first thing that popped into Maka's mind and the first that she blurted out, surprised.

"Unfortunately no. I just make weird croaking noises that drive my mother up the wall and makes everyone else laugh. Trust me Maka if you ever hear me singing use earplugs. It's not pretty." Soul gave an exaggerated shudder that made Maka grin.

"But you've dated since you got here." She uttered the second statement that had entered her mind.

"Date? I guess. I mean I had dinner with a number of girls. Sometimes movies. Even a couple of kisses." He heard something start to grind, looked up and realized it was Maka's teeth. "Ummm, not really kisses, more like the one you called pathetic," he tried to placate her. "My first real kiss was the one you gave me." The grinding stopped.

"Really?" Maka sounded pleased.

Soul nodded. "Don't sound too happy about it Maka. I've been wanting to do that for months and kept wimping out. I thought you would just MAKA CHOP me to death if I tried. You're the best meister in this academy so far as I'm concerned and didn't want to risk that. You know how much of a blow it is to a guy's pride needing a girl to make the first move." Soul hung his head.

Maka laughed. "Well since you did mention dinner first, and did give me that non-kiss lets say you made the first move." She grinned at him. Pride appeased Soul grinned back.

After five minutes eating in silence Maka asked, "So where do we stand then? We are dating?"

"We are." Soul smiled back, sounding very pleased with the concept.

"But we're not boyfriend/girlfriend yet, are we?" Maka continued the questioning.

"I don't think so," Soul answered, not sounding too sure."Dating. But boyfriend/girlfriend, I think that might be rushing it." He paused. "Dating exclusively?" He asked.

"Better be," Maka practically growled back at him.

"Then I don't have to worry about you kissing a dozen guys just to get rid of the Liz rumors?" Soul's voice was teasing.

"And I don't have to worry about Kim and those letters?" Maka voice was less sure.

"Don't worry there Maka. Only one I'm willing to jump through hoops for is you." Looking at him Maka believed him.

"Catch a movie or study?" asked Soul when the meal was finished and the mess cleaned up.

"You finished that assignment I gave you yet?" Maka asked.

"No." Soul answered.

"Hrm. You plan to?" Maka asked, sounding disappointed.

"Yeah. It's going to be fun listing all the ways your team could have beat me and Liz and rubbing your noses in it." Soul smirked.

"For that Soul I get to pick the movie," Maka answered back.

"What? No way Maka, cool guys do not watch chick flicks!" Soul exclaimed.

* * *

><p><em>Dear diary,<em>

_Went to the movies tonight with Soul. Think the movie we __watched__ was a comedy, but not sure.. Got to make a note next time to spend less time arguing over what to watch - it cuts into the kissing time. And that dear diary, I now see, is the main point of movies..._

Twenty minutes later, the diary entry finished Maka locked her diary and hid it beneath a false bottom in her underwear drawer. The underwear she knew would keep Soul away, the false bottom would keep it hidden from Blair. That done, wielding the same pen she had used to write in her diary, she took a blank piece of paper and wrote at the top, _Observations of Two Weapon Under Impossible Odds, Never Underestimate a Foe._ Writing quickly she wrote five pages before she placed the assignment one side.

_It's not as thought I've got much to write about, _she thought. _I was taken out in the first five seconds of fighting. One page per second is overkill. I could write about Soul without his shirt on, but I don't think I meant that sort of observation to be part of the project. _Maka suddenly had a horrible thought. _I hope Tsubaki and Liz don't write two thousand words on how Black Star and Kid looked without their shirts. _Maka groaned. _Oh great, I just know they will spend half of the assignment doing just that._

She yawned. _You know Maka, just because you're dating doesn't mean you can go without sleep. _She glanced at the time and yawned again. _Okay, a few minutes tidying up my desk and then bed._ She set to work tossing pieces of paper filled with scribbles into the waste basket. Those only half filled she placed to one side to used as scrap paper later on. Nearly done she came across the paper she had used the previous day.

Maka: hair color, ash blond.

Spirit: hair color, dark red

Kami: hair color, auburn, HHHHHHhh

_You know, _she thought, _it might be interesting to finish filling this out. Didn't Soul say something about my father's genes being defective? Wonder what he meant by that. _

Ten minutes, and four yawns, later she wrote 'HHHHHHHH' down by her father's name. _Cool, _she thought,_ so red hair results from two defective MC1R genes. That's something I got to use to torment poppa with some time. _Noting the hair chart in her biology text didn't have her hair color Maka held a few strands of her hair against the book and began to scan downward, looking for hair similar to her own. She found something that was close: 'HHHHhhhh'. Frowning she looked at the hair immediately above in the chart and the hair below. _Hrm, _she thought, _weird._ _Could it be the MC1R genes... no..._ She looked at what she had written on the paper so far.

Maka: hair color, ash blond.

Spirit: hair color, dark red, HHHHHHHH

Kami: hair color, auburn, HHHHHHhh

_So this is what Soul was trying to keep hidden._ The thought passed through her mind, without her yet fully comprehending what she meant by it. She placed the paper back on her desk and led down on her bed. _I'm not going to thinking about it. _The sound of the AC unit was suddenly very irritating. _I'm not going to think about it, _the thought repeated in her mind. She took a deep breath and exhaled. A few seconds later another. Slowly she forced her body, and her mind, to retreat from the sense of panic that had been threatening to overwhelm her. Exhausted from two nights with little sleep, as her body and mind relaxed, she slipped into a deep sleep.

* * *

><p><em>I'm dreaming, <em>thought Maka._ I'm in my room, asleep, after I found out the big secret. Sometimes I'm too smart for my own good. _She looked around. She stood on top of a hill, a path led down the hill where it branched into two smaller paths. Beside her was a bench. She sat down, confused. _This doesn't seem like a dream._ She sighed. _Does it matter, does anything matter? My whole life is a lie. Why bother any more? When I wake up I will tell Soul I don't care any more, I will just go back to my books and forget people, people lie, people hurt, Soul would just end up lying to me anyway, it doesn't matter, nothing matters,..._ The thoughts ran on and on, getting darker.

"Hello Maka," came a familiar voice. Maka snapped out of her daze and looked up to see Lord Death.

"Oh hello Lord Death," Maka replied. She looked around, still puzzled, but not sure if she cared any more. Finally she asked, "Where is this and how did I get here?"

"Don't worry. You're still in your bed asleep. Safe and sound, Maka. I just thought I would drop by for a little chat." Lord Death sat down on the other end of the bench. "Pretty isn't it." He pointed down the hill.

Maka looked and paid more attention to the details. Trees, full of ripe fruit, were scattered around. The scent of flowers reached her nose. She sneezed. Movement less then ten feet from her made her tense. A baby rabbit. It hopped to a bush that she could have reached out and touched. Its nose twitched and it poked its head into the bush, nibbling at the berries there. Eyes focusing she realized it wasn't alone. Seven or eight of them were there, blending in with their surroundings. A bluejay was there too. Its head turned to one side, listening. More birds fluttered through the air, a squirrel ran down a tree, ... The place was teeming with animal and plant life. Maka admitted that it was a nice view. "Very pretty," she said, feeling a little better than she had been moments before. Several butterflies flew by, inches from her eyes.

"All of this, all of life, just a thin layer over what is mostly a ball of molten rock." Lord Death spoke again. "Does it matter?" He questioned.

"Huh?" Maka was confused. _Just what is the question, _she wondered.

"Ninety-nine point nine nine nine nine nine nine nine nine percent of the earth you live on is dead rock and lava," Lord Death tried to explain. "Life is just a few billion tons tossed on top of a dead ball that weights six thousand billion billion tons. Being so insignificant does life matter?"

It wasn't something Maka had ever thought about. The answer was so obvious she had never needed to. "Of course life matters," she replied, forgetting her own dismal thoughts of a few minutes before.

"Obviously," Lord Death replied conversationally."That is something Asura never understood. Just because sanity is likely just a thin layer on top of madness doesn't mean sanity doesn't matter. Quite the opposite, being rare makes it precious, just as life is."

The two sat for a few minutes, experiencing the world around them. The smells, the sounds, the sights. "But that is not what I wanted to talk to you about," Lord Death broke the silence. He pointed down the hill again, "What do you see on the paths?"

Maka looked. There were people on the path. "People," she finally answered, knowing she was missing something.

Lord Death nodded. "But two different types of people. Those on the left take no chances, those on the right do. What difference can you see between them?"

She stared at the people, trying to see some difference. "The people on the right path, they are either happier or sadder than those on the left." She answered slowly, not sure if that was the difference she was supposed to see.

"Quite right, Maka." A pause. "If you take no chances then odds are you won't get hurt too badly. No heartbreak because you never risked love in the first place. No dreams smashed because you never chased any. You can be sad but not too sad, content but never happy."

Maka looked at the left path again. She felt sad for the people there. No dreams, no hopes, just day to day existence. "That is sad," she said. "Is life like that life?"

"Isn't that what you were just thinking before I arrived?" Lord Death asked.

Maka looked away guiltily. "I guess, not really sure. Was just feeling sad." She looked at the paths again. "Some of those on the right path are sad too," she commented.

Lord Death nodded. "Those on the right path, they take chances and sometime reap the rewards. Sometime though, those dreams fail. Open to the hurt they can at times be devastated worse than those on the left."

Maka studied the paths again. _To take chances, or to not take chances. _She sighed. "I don't know if I can risk being broken like some of those on the right are. Perhaps the left path is the right path to choose."

Death studied her. "If you always knew you would succeed, never fail, would there be any joy in doing anything? Just mindless actions done for the sake of doing, never any sense of satisfaction at a goal accomplished."

"But to take an action knowing you can be broken. How can a person handle that?" She questioned.

"Do you need to ask that Maka, or should I say Slayer of Asura, the demon god that even Death could not defeat." Death's voice jested at the question she had asked, amused.

"Courage!" Maka simply stated. On impulse she turned and gave the figure before her a hug. "Thanks!" She added.

Lord Death nodded and smiled.

* * *

><p>Make woke up, if she had been asleep in the first place. She wasn't sure. Standing she looked at the paper on her desk, took it, balled it up, and dropped it in the waste basket. She looked around the room which seemed very sterile, having little in the way of personal belongings other than books. She still felt alone. <em>I'm not alone, <em>she thought. She left her room and entered Soul's. For a short while she watched him sleep in the dim light. Then she led down on the bed beside him.

"Maka?" questioned the confused and sleepy Soul.

"You were right Soul, I didn't want to know what was on that paper." She turned to him and he saw her tear streaked face. "Just hold me for a while okay?"

Soul .looked at her, his heart breaking. "Always Maka," he replied.

Maka settled down next to him. His arms around her. She looked at the time, three am. _So going to be tired tomorrow, _she thought. Suddenly she was giggling.

"Huh?" Soul looked at her wondering. Giggling was the last thing he had expected.

"Just surprised," Maka replied. "Here I am, feeling as though the world has ended yet I'm still looking at the time worried about being tired tomorrow." She snuggled in closer to Soul, feeling a lot better. Laughter was good medicine. "And surprised that I am okay."

"Soul?" Maka questioned a few moments later.

"Yes?" Soul answered back. Maka felt his arms tighten around her.

"What do I tell ..." She paused for a moment, not sure any more what to call the one she used to call poppa.

"Why say anything?" Soul answered her, knowing the question.

"But?" Maka wondered at his response.

"Does it make any difference Maka?" Soul asked.

Maka wondered, _Did it? _She recalled all the times she had spent with her father growing up and realized she had far more memories of him than she did of her mother. Books he had read to her. Talks they had had. Meals together. Walks. Help with homework. Her mother, she recalled, had always been busy working at something or other, often gone even back then. "He's still a pig," Maka stated to Soul.

"Agreed," he answered back.

"He's still insanely embarrassing to be around," Maka added.

"Agreed," came Soul's reply again.

"But he is my father," Maka said with surprise evident in her voice.

"Of course," Soul answered. "He cares about you deeply Maka. You tell him and it will hurt him badly."

"Doesn't he have a right to know?" Maka questioned, afraid that she would have to tell her father. She waited. No answer came from Soul. She gave him a gentle poke. "Soul?"

Soul sighed and reluctantly said, "He has a right to know." Soul hesitated before he added, "You had a right to know, yet I chickened out and didn't tell you. I just couldn't take it, telling you, knowing it would hurt you." A long pause. "Sorry Maka. I should have told you," Soul said, his voice more serious than Maka had ever heard it before.

"It's okay Soul. I know why you didn't." Maka sighed. "I've got to tell him but what if he doesn't want to be my father any more? I haven't treated him very good recently."

"You're his world Maka. I don't think anything can change that."

"The right path sucks sometimes Soul," Maka said, thinking of her _dream_ earlier. _Doing the right thing here is taking a chance that could hurt, _she thought.

"Agreed," came the answer.

"How do I tell him?" Maka paused. "Sorry, there isn't any right answer to that question is there. Either way it's going to hurt."

"Sorry," Soul answered, sounding apologetic.

"Thanks for being here for me Soul."

"Anytime Maka."

Maka shifted in his arms, obviously worried. "Relax Maka, get some sleep." Soul told her gently.

"Sleep now Soul?" Maka gave a sigh.

"You know how. They taught us at the academy, remember Sid and those breathing techniques."

"Yeah." She did. She had after all used them just earlier to relax in her own room. She focused on her breathing and fell asleep almost immediately.

* * *

><p>A single figure sat within the dim laboratory. <em>What is taking Marie so long, <em>wondered Stein. Turning he _looked, _his Soul Perception allowing him to see her soul a few meters away in the kitchen. _Looks as though she is searching for something, maybe sugar._ The Death Scythe had left the lab several minutes earlier stating that she was going to prepare some tea for the two of them. Stein turned back to the computer screen in front of him, reviewing the correspondence he had exchanged with an old friend of his. _I should never have started this, _thought Stein. He recalled how his friend upon hearing about Crona and the way he had merged with his weapon, Ragnarok, had reopened contact with him, expressing curiosity. They had put forward questions and proposed experiments. Stein sighed and reaching up adjusted the screw embedded in his head. _And now it begins again._

Marie entered the lab. "Low on sugar Stein so hope you didn't want it too sweet." Reaching up she switched on more lights. "You know you're going to ruin your eyes Stein always being in the dark like this." She placed a saucer with a cup on it in front of him.

Taking a sip Stein smiled at the woman, "Perfect Marie." The two sat in silence for a while. Stein turned his thoughts to Maka._ I wonder if she's figured it out yet.I hope she doesn't take it too badly._ He recalled the look on her face when he had so casually mentioned her search of his office earlier, and her potential dissection. _I owe Spirit so much. The madness would have taken me long ago if not for him. Damn that Soul, why couldn't he have done the assignment on his own hair. _Stein gave another sigh. When the one student who had never been late for class before had been nowhere to be seen he couldn't help but take a quick look to see if she was nearby. He had been surprised when his Soul Perception located her in his locked office. What she had been after was obvious. Stein himself had watched that disk, wondering why Soul had behaved so unnatural for him that day.

"Something wrong Stein." Marie asked him.

Stein turned his thoughts away from Maka and on to more urgent matters. "Time to go to the Death Room."

"Oh?" Marie was curious. "Why?"

"It seems that a replacement for Asura has already risen."

"Oh." Marie went white. After a few seconds of silence she asked, "Are you sure?"

* * *

><p><em>Was it an accident that really created me, or was it destiny, <em>came the thoughts of the one that now called itself _The Diety._ _Did that pitiful creature I once was really plan to use that Black Blood to infect itself. _It remembered the slipping of a foot, the sound of a beaker smashing as it fell, the pain as they landed on top of the broken glass, the fear, the madness as it took hold. _It had planned to, _came the thought, _but under controlled circumstances. Instead destiny cast forth its hand and created me, a new GOD. _A smile crossed the creature's lips. It remembered consuming the child that the foolish human it had been had sought out to study. A child with the blood of a weapon. It remembered the merging, the three made one, human with Black Blood with weapon. God!

A man stumbled by in the dark night, obviously drunk. A hand formed into that of a steel blade, flashed out. The man, dead before he knew there was danger, fell into some bushes where the night would hide him until daylight. The Deity licked its lips and lifted the hand, now human shaped again, to its mouth, taking a bite out of the man's soul. _Delicious! _It thought. _But soon I will have to feast again as I did that first night I became God. _It remembered how easy it had been to reach out, using abilities it had never before thought possible. The people had come to it, smiling as it showed them illusions of paradise, not uttering a sound as they fell at the feet of God, their souls consumed. The Deity had left the small town empty of human life except for a few babies not yet able to walk and a few elderly who were too frail to heed the siren summons of the new God. The seven thousand souls it had consumed that night had energized it, empowered it. The creature paused. _Why wait, _it thought and began once again to send out the illusion it wove with its very soul, calling all to it.

* * *

><p>Soul woke up to the aroma of strawberries. Opening his eyes he saw Maka's ash blonde hair. It took him a few seconds to remember the events of the night before. <em>At least I don't have to keep anything hidden from her now,<em> he thought with a sense of relief. He had not liked doing that. He found himself listening to the sound of her breathing, finding the sound almost hypnotic. He settled back, listening. _No need to wake her just yet, _he thought. Less than ten minutes later he heard the change in her breathing as she began to wake up.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Sadly I do NOT own Soul Eater.

Rated M for 'indecent' moments.

For this story I have assumed that the DWMA and witches and such beings are not generally known to the world at large.

* * *

><p>As they walked to school Maka recalled the way she had woken up that morning. Snuggled close to Soul, his arm around her. <em>Damn, <em>she thought. _Less than forty-eight hours from first kiss to sleeping with the guy, even if nothing did happen. At this rate you will be married and pregnant by the end of the week, Maka._ She giggled.

"Something funny Maka?" Soul asked, curious. Mainly though he was just glad she wasn't depressed. Her happy mood, while unexpected was welcome.

Maka painted the picture she had in her mind with words and Soul found himself grinning. "There is no way I'm ready to be a father Maka. Let's save that for a few more years."

"And there's no way I'm ready to be a mother," Maka agreed with him.

They continued onward until they got to the academy grounds. Soul stopped and pulled her to a stop with him. "Want to try and put a stop to those Liz rumors?" he asked her.

'Sure. What did you have in mind?" Maka was curious. Soul grinned and pulled her closer.

Patty turned a corner and saw the two kissing. "Maka," she yelled, "stop cheating on big sis now!" Maka groaned.

Liz seeing the two yelled, "Hey Soul, just what do you think you're doing with MY sexy kitten?" Maka groaned again.

Looking at the two Maka saw Liz had a grin on her face while Patty looked angry. She grinned back at Liz. "What are you two up to?" Maka asked. She found she wasn't bothered by Liz's teasing at all any more. After all, she had the guy she wanted. Not that she wouldn't set Blair on her whenever than damn cat decided to show up.

"Not much," Liz answered. "Kid is busy being all symmetrical again so Patty and I ended up coming to school alone."

Patty looked at her sister. "You aren't angry sis?" she asked, sounding confused.

"Huh?" Liz looked at her. "Kid's always like that. So long as we're not fighting why would I be angry?"

"But Maka was cheating on you," Patty said, looking more confused. "You're not angry with her?"

"Oh," Liz said, finally understanding. "I've already told you a dozen times Patty, I was just teasing Maka, it's not serious." Liz sounded exasperated.

"You sure? It looked pretty serious to me." Patty wasn't about to give up on the idea.

"YES PATTY, I AM SURE!" Liz shouted. Patty backed away from her. "I've told you that a dozen time already Patty," Liz added, calming down.

Maka grinned at the two. _It seems, _she thought, _Liz is having more trouble with this than I am._ "So what is Kid being all symmetrical over this time?" she asked.

"The driveway," Liz answered. "Seems it's half an inch wider where it meets the front door than where it meets the road." Then, grinning at Maka, Liz said, "But that's not the big news is it Maka?"

Huh? What is then?" Maka wondered.

"Well," Liz drawled. "It seems there are rumors of a certain couple being seen together at a fancy restaurant and locking lips at a certain movie theater. I was pretty sure it was just rumors, but now ..." She beamed at the two. _About time those two hooked up, _she thought, very pleased.

"Huh?" Patty looked puzzled again for a second before she exclaimed at Maka, "Maka, were you cheating on big sis again?"

Liz groaned! _Oh God, _she thought, and slapped her hands over her face trying to hide. Maka burst out laughing, she barely noticed the mischievous glint in Patty's eyes and a small smirk on her face. _That's the same sort of glint Liz has when she's teasing me, _Maka realized. _She's been teasing Liz over this the whole time just like Liz has been teasing me._ Maka found herself laughing so hard she ended up on the ground.

"Shut up Maka, it's not funny!" Liz glared down at Maka. This didn't help Maka's giggling fit at all.

"You know, I'm the last one who should be saying this, but if we don't hurry we're going to be late for class." Soul himself was barely able to keep from laughing at the three but he knew Maka was obsessive over being on time.

Maka stood up, still giggling. "Don't worry Liz, I've still got plans for you." She winked at the brown haired girl. Maka linked hands with Soul as the four of them headed off to class.

As they took their seats Liz leaned over and whispered to Maka, "So it is true? It's not just a ruse to make people stop believing you're a lesbian?"

Maka beamed back at her, "It's true."

Patty muttered something about cheating that Maka didn't catch. Liz closed her eyes and took a deep breath trying to contain her temper. She failed. Standing up Liz took a scarf from her bag and wrapped it around Patty's mouth several times before firmly knotting it behind her head. She put all her strength into the knots to keep her sister from untying them. Patty fumbled at the knots, getting nowhere with them.

Stein entered the room, took note of Patty's situation and made note to check the camera to see just how that situation had occurred. "Soul, Maka, report to the Death Room. You have an assignment." He looked at Patty. "Well, it seems I have a volunteer for dissection. Isn't that right Patty?" The girl's eyes went wide.

"mmmmmm," Patty tried to speak.

* * *

><p>"Hello Maka. Hello Soul. Good morning. How are you?" Death greeted them with his usual cheer.<p>

"Maka, my baby girl! My darling Maka!" Spirit, unnoticed in the corner popped up and greeted his daughter.

Maka froze. _How do I greet him? What do I say? Do I tell him now? No, not when there is a mission. Not when there are people around. _The thoughts rushed through her mind. "Hello poppa," she finally said. Both Lord Death and Soul, who had held their breaths when Maka froze, started breathing again.

"My darling Maka, poppa got you a lunch to take with you on your trip." Spirit held out a bag capable of carrying a large quantity of food. Maka took it and peeked into it. There was, she noted, enough for two people to have quite a feast for at least one meal. _He got a lunch for Soul too? _She was surprised.

"Thanks poppa." She smiled at him, something that surprised Spirit. His daughter was not usually that happy to see him.

"Listen up, listen up, everyone!" Lord Death spoke in a funny voice. He had decided to give the assignment to the two students and get them on their way as soon as possible while everyone was happy. "You two," he pointed at Maka and Soul, "are to head to Houston and deal with an outbreak of witches. For some reason several of them have gathered in the city." Lord Death finished giving the assignment and noticed Maka was about to ask questions. "Now off you two go, rush rush now, time is off the essence." He ushered the two out of the room.

Lord Death and Spirit stood in silence together for a while. Then Lord Death turned and spoke, his voice no longer funny, "Now on to the matter of the Deity. This kishin is different from Asura. It is not vulnerable to courage and the madness wavelength it radiates is slightly different. If not killed or confined madness will still overtake the world, but with the Deity the madness takes the form of religious hallucination. It can use this madness to draw people to it and control them..."

* * *

><p>Soul sat on the bus reading, Maka napping beside him with her head resting against him. As he read he would occasionally glance her way and smile. Focusing his thoughts on the pamphlet about Houston that he had taken from the Death City Travel Agency he considered the situation. <em>We've got to find a couple of witches in a city of over two million people that covers an area of over fifteen hundred square kilometers. This is going to take a while! And why isn't the Death Scythe for that area handling this? <em>He paused. _And why am I reading this for anyway? Maka handles the academics. _He put the pamphlet away and tried to rest more comfortably for the six hour journey to the nearest airport, careful not to disturb Maka. Soon he too was asleep.

Maka awoke to find herself resting against a sleeping Soul. Her left arm entwined with his right, her head resting on his shoulder. Blushing she looked around too see if anyone on the bus had taken notice. No one was looking their way and she saw at least one other couple in a similar position. _What am I thinking, this is perfectly normal for a couple._ Her thoughts froze. _A couple? _She looked at Soul and grinned, letting her head rest against his shoulder again.

The two sat in their hotel room, picked for its location near the center of the city. Maka was studying the pamphlet Soul had given her along with others she had taken from the information center at the Houston airport. _Lets see, _Maka thought, _if we spent twelve hours a day scouting the city at one square kilometer per hour it will take us just one hundred and twenty-five days to scout the whole city for witches. And that assumes they stay in the same spot._ Looking up at Soul she said, "This is going to take a while."

"I'm just glad Death City is paying for the trip. A hundred and four dollars a night!" Soul cringed. 'Not to mention the couple thousand we will have spent on travel costs alone by the time we get back."

"At least it's a nice place," Maka commented. Location, not cost, had been the determining factor in choosing the hotel.

"Any ideas on how to speed things up?" Soul asked. "How about that Soul Perception of yours? Can you repeat that trick you used to find Crona the time we were fighting Asura?"

Maka began to pace around the room. "If I knew the wavelength of their souls it would be no problem, but since I don't it is." Maka sounded frustrated. "Two million other souls is a lot of interference."

"You can't just scan for a witch's purple soul?" Soul asked.

"You know I can't Soul, I need to know the wavelength to use Soul Perception to scan for a single soul like I did with Crona." Maka flopped down on her bed, a twin of the one Soul was currently on. "And just running around scanning everyone for a purple soul will take forever."

"I wonder how Lord Death even knew witches were gathering here anyway? And why he didn't give us more details, like where in the city the witches were staying?" Soul pondered out loud.

Maka sighed. "I'm sure he had his reasons."

"Yeah, but I wonder." Soul checked the time. The lateness of the hour surprised him but having napped on both the bus and the plane sleep was a long way off. Turning to Maka he grinned. "You know Maka we might as well get started looking. I suggest we check some of the clubs first."

Maka rolled her eyes. "For one Soul, we are not here to check out the clubs. And second, I doubt the witches would be there and if they were I could see them from outside using Soul Perception. And third, we are not old enough for the clubs I imagine you are suggesting we go to."

"Maka, Maka," Soul's tone had a hint of amusement in it. "With these," he held up a Death City id card, "we are twenty-one."

"Those are not for fun Soul," Maka retorted. "Those are just for use on business so we can get rooms and such where we need id. Besides while we might be able to get rooms with them I doubt they will let us into a club with them. We don't look twenty-one."

"Half the fun Maka is in trying." Soul was still grinning at her.

"Just what do you want to do in a club anyway." Maka paused, then turned to Soul and glared. 'It's not to watch girls dance is it? Because if is Soul I bet a city with two million people have got phone books just perfect for MAKA CHOPS!" Both their eyes turned to the corner of the room where there was a telephone. Soul doubted he could even lift the massive telephone book sitting next to it. He cringed.

"No no Maka." He sighed. "Didn't you ever want to break the rules, just a little?"

"No," Maka stated flatly.

Soul slipped off his bed and onto Maka's. "So," he said, "you never sneaked a cookie out of the cookie jar when you were a kid?"

Maka remained quiet. Soul poked her gently in the ribs. "But those cashew caramel cookies were so good!" she finally blurted out. She looked at Soul, blushing.

"Wasn't half the fun in planning to steal the cookies and then making that plan work?" Soul questioned her, the grin still on his face.

"Hrmm, you know it probably was. Some of the plans I came up with were pretty convoluted," Maka admitted.

"So we get into one club, just to see if we can for the challenge, have one drink and then come back here." Soul pleaded.

"DRINK! You want to drink?" Maka looked at Soul, ready to start flinging telephone books.

Soul sighed. "One drink Maka isn't going to hurt. Just like sneaking one cookie didn't hurt." Maka didn't look convinced.

Maka was tempted. _Damn him, he would have to put it in the form of a challenge,_ Maka thought. _And I am curious, other than beer I've never had anything alcoholic to drink. But drinking is so wrong. Grrrrr. It's not like we can get into a club, but now I want to try to see if we can._ She looked up from her thoughts, "So, just how would try to get someone like me who doesn't even look fifteen let alone twenty-one into a club? Or yourself for that matter?"

Soul looked at her, thinking. "That," he finally said, "is going to be one heck of a challenge."

After twenty-eight tries and two hours of going from bar to bar Maka was thinking, _No way is this going to work even if we try them all._ Maka looked at Soul walking beside her. _He's close enough to get in._ After two minutes in front of a mirror Soul's appearance had undergone a dramatic change. Hair combed back, shirt open far enough to show his scar. But it was the eyes and teeth that made it work, the way he would stare unflinchingly, and the smile that showed his teeth. _He looks nineteen or twenty, close enough to twenty-one that no one is really going to doubt it if he says he is twenty-one. And he looks so confident. That combined with a good id..._ Her thoughts turned to herself. _Nothing I did even made me look older than fifteen. DAMN IT GROW, _she yelled her thoughts down at her chest.

Soul looked at Maka, noticing that she was lost in thought. "Still plenty of places to try Maka," he said. "You still doing those Soul Perception scans right?"

Maka nodded. "Tired of doing them though. Starting to get drained." She turned her mind back to the clubs they had already tried. She tried to keep Soul between her and anyone doing an id check. The darkness should have helped. Soul carried both ids and held them out with his showing on top, hiding part of Maka's. It wasn't working. Often the ids would be taken for closer inspection, upon which eyes would turn in Maka's direction and there would be a small laugh before they were turned away.

Maka noted they were already at the twenty-ninth club. It was darker here than usual and she stood in the shadow Soul cast. She was stunned when Soul, rather than turning back as they had done at the previous clubs, pushed her forward. She kept pace with him and pulled them towards the darkest spot she could find in the place. At an empty table she sat with her back to the rest of the club. Soul was grinning at her. "Bet you were starting to doubt we would get in," he said.

"I had my doubts from the start," she answered. "Who would let someone who looks fifteen into a club? Maybe we should report this place when we leave?"

"Nay, the guy doing the checks was, I think, at the end of his shift and tired. We just got lucky." Soul answered back. "Now for the second part, what to drink?"

Maka thought. "Soul I don't have a clue. All I know is beer, whiskey, scotch, and stuff like that. I don't think just asking for whiskey is right."

Soul thought for a moment. "Wait here." He got up and took off for the bar. After a few seconds Maka tilted her head towards the bar enough to see him just standing there. _He's listening to what other people are ordering, _she realized.

Several minutes later he returned and sat two drinks down on the table. "Alabama Slammers," he said pointing to one.

"What's the other one called?" Maka asked when he made no move to name the other drink.

Soul blushed. "Something that I am not going to repeat to you." Maka looked at him. "Hey, it's loud up there, only heard the name for three drinks and two of them are something I'm not repeating to you." Soul refused to meet her gaze.

"Which one is mine?" Maka asked, letting the topic go. She eyed the two glasses as though they were a witch's concoction.

"Hrm," Soul looked at the two glasses. "Since the whole purpose here is to experiment I suggest we go half and half. We eat drink half of one and then switch?"

Maka nodded and took one of the glasses. Taking a wary sip she noted it was fruity. _This is pretty good, _she thought. She looked up to watch Soul take a sip of his drink. "Well?" she asked.

"Not bad." He took another sip. "Though for something that tastes almost exactly like fruit juice it would be cheaper to just buy that, fruit juice." Maka shrugged and took another sip. Several minutes later, each having drank half of one of the drinks they switched, and compared notes again.

"So what do you want next?" Soul asked, the two empty glasses sat on the table.

"You said one drink only Soul," Maka hissed at him, glaring.

"Relax Maka, I'm getting a root beer this time around. What do you want? I'm not crazy enough to get drunk period, let alone drunk several thousand miles from home in a city with several witches in it." Soul tried to look offended.

"Oh. Cherry soda then," Maka said and Soul took off. Returning less than a minute later he placed two bottles on the table. Maka, suspicious, grabbed the root beer bottle and checked the ingredients listed. Satisfied she put it back down in front of Soul. Soul just shook his head, grinning at her.

The two relaxed, taking sips of their respective drinks, looking around the place. Neither of them saw much to be impressed with. It was noisy and the cigarette smoke was irritating. Both however were enjoying themselves. "So this is a club," Maka finally commented.

Soul nodded. "Not quite like I expected but close."

With the excitement of being in a forbidden place wearing off Maka realized she was hungry. Stomach growling she asked, "They serve anything to eat here?" Traveling they had not eaten much, just what her father had packed.

Soul nodded and disappeared again, heading to the bar. He returned later carrying three plates of food. Maka's nose twitched at the smell of spicy chicken wings. On the other two plates were a couple of sandwiches and salads. She dug in.

Matching her bite for bite, Soul asked, "Enjoying yourself?" Maka nodded.

Swallowing, she looked up from a sandwich and said, "You know, as a kid I didn't always stop at one cookie. I had some pretty bad stomach aches after some of those _cookie raids_ as I called them. Took me four times emptying out the jar before I realized that wasn't smart."

"Yeah. An empty cookie jar is also a dead giveaway that someone was bad. Don't know how many times I got punished for that before I stuck to just one." Soul's sharp teeth started shredding a chicken wing.

"Poppa never punished me. He just told me eating too many cookies was wrong and would make me sick." Maka smiled at the memories. Things back then had been so perfect. She reached for her soda bottle only to realize it was empty. Spotting Soul's root beer she grabbed it and drank the last few drops.

"Hey, stop that soda thief," he jested.

Maka grinned at him. "Mind getting me another soda?" she asked and Soul disappeared back to the bar. Maka looked around and noticed a woman sitting at a table not too far away. From the bottles on the tables Maka would have thought the woman would be drunk but her hand was steady as she tilted another bottle back and took a deep drink. The woman, in her early to mid twenties Maka guessed, finished the bottle and placed it back on the table. The woman gave a sigh and stared at the bottles. She then lowered her head and started weeping.

Out of habit Maka scanned the woman using Soul Perception. Maka froze. A purple soul! She jumped as Soul placed another cherry soda in front of her and another root beer at his own place. "What's wrong, Maka?" he asked, instantly serious.

"Seems you were right Soul, about hitting the clubs first to find witches," Maka answered, keeping her voice low. Soul tensed and starting to look around. "Sit down Soul. We can't do much in here. We wait until she leaves and then we hit her." Soul nodded and sat down.

Glancing at the witch Maka had pointed out he asked, "Since when do witches cry like that?"

Maka shrugged. "Guess they can have a bad day like everyone else." The weeping sound that barely reached them made Maka winch. It might be a witch but the _woman _was clearly hurting. The two of them finished their meal and sat back, waiting for the woman to leave. _Maybe two bottles of soda on top of a drink was a bit too much, _Maka thought. _Really don't want to use the facilities here though._

_Damn it, _Maka thought five minutes later. "Keep an eye on her Soul." Maka took off for the washroom. _Thankfully the way there isn't too well lit, _she thought as she arrived at the door. _Don't want to get tossed out until that witch leaves._

"Hey there, want to have some fun?" Maka's eyes went wide as a voice spoke when she entered the washroom. Looking up she saw the speaker, a woman who wore hardly anything was smiling at her. The woman frowned as soon as Maka looked up. "Sort of young to be in this place aren't you?"

Maka shrugged. "And you're sort of under dressed to be in this place. Makes us even."

The woman grinned at the response. "Doesn't work that way honey. You're what, thirteen? Not a good place for you to be."

Maka's teeth made a grinding sound that caused the woman to step back. "No, I am not thirteen! Just because these," she pointed at her chest, "refuse to grow doesn't make me thirteen." Maka looked at the woman and concluded that lying to her would probably be useless. "Yeah, sort of young to be here, but I'm not alone and we can take care of ourselves. Just wanted to see what a club like this was like."

The woman studied her for a few moments. "You sure you will be okay?"

Maka nodded. "I will be, unless I don't get in there soon." She pointed to the stall behind the woman. The woman moved to one side, still eying her.

A few minutes later Maka left the washroom only to find the woman following her. Maka looked at her and the woman shrugged. "Whatever you say I'm keeping an eye on you while you're here. It's either that or I'm reporting you." Maka sighed.

Soul looked up when Maka sat down, then noticing she wasn't alone studied the woman with her. Early to mid thirties, shoulder length black hair and stunning blue eyes. The outfit she wore would have been more appropriate on a beach. He looked back to Maka questioningly. Maka shrugged. "She refuses to leave me alone until she knows I'm safe." Maka took her seat again and the woman sat down across from her next to Soul. _A bit too close, _Maka thought. "Sit any closer to him and you might lose an appendage or two," she stated, staring at the woman who put some distance between her and Soul. Both Maka and Soul glanced at the witch, urging her to leave.

The woman, Donna, looked at the two teens and the remnants of the meal on the table. _Mostly soda with one drink each, _she noted. _So they're not here to get drunk. The guy looks around twenty but I'm guessing he's a lot younger. Just dressed up to get in here. And just how did they get in here? She doesn't look more than thirteen even if she says she's older. Going to have a talk with Jeff later on, he's the one who probably let those two in. _"I'm Donna, by the way, and you two are?"

Maka shrugged and pointed at Soul, "Soul," and then at herself, "Maka."

_Not very talkative, _Donna thought. She noticed where the two were glancing. "That's Marie," she said to the two. "Comes in here around once a week and drinks like a fish, but never gets drunk, or even the least bit tipsy for that matter. One of the great mysteries of the world we often talk about in this place."

"What do you know about her?" Maka asked, with an intensity that Donna found frightening.

"Why are you so interested in her?" Donna countered. Maka shrugged and silence returned to the table. Donna was puzzled. _Why are those two so interested in Marie? _she wondered._ If they came in here to see what the place was like why aren't they looking around more, or trying to buy drinks like normal teens would be trying to do?_ Donna figured she had seen pretty much everything in her thirty-odd years, but those two had her bewildered._ Much like Marie in that aspect, _she thought

"I'm keeping an eye on you two so don't think you can get away with any more drinking," Donna said, looking straight at Maka. While her tone was serious she smiled. "You've had one drink each and seen the place. Given the hour you two should be home asleep." She rose and headed off to where the witch Marie was.

"Hello Marie, how are you doing?" Donna asked as she approached the short brown haired woman who looked up at her and shrugged.

"So so. Still can't get drunk." Marie took a glance across the room at the two who Donna had just left. "Don't guess I will get too many more chances to try either."

"Huh? Why not?" Donna was confused. "You know those two?"

Marie shook her head. "No, but I don't need to. I know what they are. Meister and weapon!"

"Meister? What is that?" Donna asked, not liking the way this conversation was heading. Marie she knew was not afraid of anything. She had walked into open gunfights between gangs and the police unafraid to help bystanders. Yet here she was afraid of two teens?

Marie just shrugged. "Not something you need concern yourself with Donna." She twisted the top off another bottle and drank half of it without stopping. She looked at the half filled bottle and sighed. "Just wish I could have got drunk once. Just wish for once I could forget."

Donna sat down beside the young woman and hugged her. "Why beat yourself up over something that wasn't your fault?" she asked.

"Because if I had accepted what I was back then I could have stopped it." Marie finished off the bottle and placed it on the table. "But doesn't matter now. Soon none of it will matter."

"You want me to have Jeff toss them out?" Donna asked, concerned.

"Won't do any good." The top came off another bottle that was half emptied in seconds. "You've seen what I am, part of it anyway Donna. Do you think I would fear something that Jeff could handle?"

Donna went silent and her hand came up to where her heart was. The night they first met was something Marie had never discussed with her before, something Donna had always held back from asking about. Sometimes Donna thought it was something she had dreamed. Streets peaceful one instant, then erupting into a war zone as two gangs clashed in open battle. Donna a prostitute standing on the street, willing to do anything to get the crack she was addicted to. The pain that spiked through her body, from back to chest. The spray of blood in front of her. Looking down to the gaping wound in her chest. Falling to her knees. Then falling backwards on her back. The darkness that started to close around her. Then she had heard the chanting, _'heal heal, body and mind restore'_. She had opened her eyes briefly before closing them again. In that brief moment she had seen Marie staring down at her and had thought, _her eyes, they are like butterflies._ She had woke up in the hospital two days later, there was no wound on her chest, and she had never felt that dreadful craving for crack ever again.

Donna was now thirty-four, she had been sixteen when that happened. In those eighteen years the woman before her had not changed one bit, had not aged in the slightest way that Donna could detect. "Sometime I think it was a dream." She finally said.

Marie shrugged. "Sometimes people get a second chance. At least you made good use of yours," referring to the fact that Donna was now a nurse working at a children's hospital. A job she loved and was good at. "Now if you would stop picking up strange women at bars and settle down with just one. Maybe adopt a kid." Marie grinned. "Hell if it's a baby you adopt you could even name it after me."

"Why would you be afraid of two teens and what is a meister?" Donna finally settled on two questions of the many that were running through her head. The main one she wanted to ask is what Marie was, but she was afraid of the answer to that one. She always was. She recalled the children under her care, the ones that should have died. The ones that instead got better The other things she'd seen but never spoke off. The unspoken agreement between the two to never talk about those things..

"Not something you need to be concerned with Donna," Marie repeated her words from earlier. She twisted another cap off a bottle and took a drink.

"Stop saying that. Tell me how to help." Donna was frustrated. What she _needed _was to be able to help the woman who had helped her. In those eighteen years Marie had, after saving Donna's life, put her through school. Had encouraged her and been her friend when she needed one. Every triumph and every woe she had had since then she had in some way shared with the woman before her. They had even been lovers for a short time.

Marie sighed and looked at the empty bottle around her. She glanced towards the door. "When you walk out that door this time you won't ever be back will you?" Donna asked. Marie's glance towards the two teens told her the answer.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Sadly I do NOT own Soul Eater.

Rated M for 'indecent' moments.

* * *

><p>Maka had watched the two, Donna and the witch Marie, talk. The noise may have hindered any attempt at listening but Maka had managed to make out half the words by lip reading. <em>Weird conversation for a witch to be having, <em>she thought. She had carefully studied the witch's soul and noted that while it was purple it didn't quite have the malevolent feel that most witches' souls had. In fact this soul more resembled that of Kim's who Maka knew was a witch with regenerative magic. _This witch has regenerative magic, _Maka had realized. _I wonder if maybe like Kim the Sway of Magic hasn't corrupted her. Curious, maybe having regenerative magic can regenerate a witch's soul and prevent its corruption._ Maka had decided to investigate. After a quick discussion with Soul the two of them had headed for the witch.

"A truce?" came a voice behind Donna who turned, startled, to see the girl Maka. Behind her stood Soul. "Keep your Soul Protect on and Soul will not transform until the truce ends?" Maka added. _Soul Protect, _thought Donna. _Transform?_

Marie nodded. "You are Maka?" she asked. "The one who slew Medusa and Asura? Something of a legend."

"I am, though not sure how much of a legend I am." Maka leaned closer, studying Marie closely. "You possess regenerative magic. Interesting." She looked into Marie's eyes. "Don't tell me, your animal affiliation is that of the butterfly. I bet those eyes must drive guys," she glanced at Donna, "and women crazy."

"They are one of my better assets," Marie agreed with Maka.

"How old are you?" Maka inquired.

"Four hundred and thirty-eight." The response Marie gave drew a gasp from Donna. Looking at her Marie added, "Yeah, I end up gasping too whenever I try to blow out that many birthday candles." Marie grinned at the wide eyed woman.

"And yet you're still free from the Sway of Magic?" Maka asked.

Marie nodded. "Never ever did see the point in wasting all that effort on destroying stuff. How did you know I could do regenerative magic?"

Maka shrugged. "Your soul is similar to another witch I know who has regenerative magic."

"Has? She's still alive?" Marie was curious. _They know of a witch and yet they let her live? _The thought intrigued her._ I thought they hunted all witches, even children._

"She is." Maka paused. "Though that might change if she ever sends Soul anymore love letters." Maka growled the last part, looking at Soul who just shrugged.

"How did you find me? Out of a city of two million I was pretty sure I would be lost in the crowd so long as I didn't do anything major." Marie inquired.

"Got lucky," Maka answered. "Soul talked me into trying to sneak into a club. Guess which one we managed to get into." Maka looked pitingly at the witch sitting across from her. "Well, we got lucky, guess it was bad luck for you." From their short conversation Maka had decided she liked both Donna and Marie and had no real desire to kill the witch. _Yet Lord Death's orders are to kill the witches in this city so ..._ Maka let the thought fade.

Marie nodded. "Given the odds that was bad luck." She looked at the table wishing she wasn't out of drinks. "Hey Donna, how about getting me a refill on the drinks?"

Donna shook her head. "I'm not leaving you alone with those two." She hadn't been able to follow half the conversation yet she knew those two meant Marie harm.

Marie sighed. "So what brings you two here. Would have thought with a new kishin on the loose Lord Death would be too busy to bother with someone like me."

"A new kishin?" Both Maka and Soul spoke this together, looking at each other.

"You didn't know?" Marie asked.

Maka shook her head. "Guess Lord Death didn't think we needed to know."

"Someone calling themselves the Deity. They've already wiped out a number of small towns. Don't you listen to the news? I would have thought Lord Death would have wanted the meister who killed the last kishin to be in the lead for this fight." Marie looked at the two, puzzled.

"There was something strange about the way he rushed us off." Soul commented. "Wonder why."

"What do you know of this kishin?" Maka asked.

Marie started to speak but was interrupted by Donna. "Why are you telling them anything when they're planning to hurt you? If you got information they want make them promise not to hurt you before you tell them."

Marie looked at her friend. "Because Donna, this kishin has already killed _tens of thousands_ of people. She emphasized the number of people. "If left unchecked it could destroy the world."

Donna looked back in disbelief. "Tens of thousands? The whole world?"

Marie nodded. "The whole world."

_She doesn't seem at all like other witches I've fought, _thought Maka. _And I wonder if Lord Death even meant for us to find any witches here period. Whole situation seems funny to me. _"I'll take that deal," Maka said.

Marie stared at her, her jaw dropping. "You will? Since when does Lord Death make deals with witches?"

Maka shrugged. "He's not here, I'm the one making the deal." Maka paused in thought, and then continued, explaining the deal, "I won't kill you now, or in the future, so long as you tell me everything you know about this Deity figure. That doesn't extend to Lord Death, I can't make any deals in regards to him, so he might send others after you. Also if you ever use destructive magic against humans or fall under the Sway of Magic the deal ends." Soul grinned at her. _She's changed so much since we met, _he thought, proud of his meister.

"And him?" Donna asked, pointing at Soul.

"So long as Maka is my meister any deals she makes is binding on me as well," Soul explained.

Donna turned to Marie, "Take the deal!"

Marie hesitated and Donna looked at her worried. Finally Marie spoke, "The other witch you spoke of, the one with regenerative magic, you made the same sort of deal with her?"

"No, she made her deal directly with Lord Death himself. What the specifics of that deal is I don't know," Maka answered.

Marie sat back, surprised. _A deal made with witches by Lord Death himself? _she thought. "I will take your offer," Marie finally said and she felt Donna relax beside her. Donna's arms had been around her the whole time.

Marie began, "First of all, to be clear, all my knowledge of the Deity comes from second and third hand sources. Amongst the council of witches I'm not the most popular witch, being opposed to their goals and all. So don't take this as gospel okay?"

Maka nodded. "Okay."

Marie continued, "After the downfall of Asura there was a meister, Kami who decided to experiment with Black Blood and weapons."

"Who?" Maka, interrupted the witch. "What's her full name?"

Marie was startled by the intensity of the question. "I don't know. Everyone just refers to her as Kami."

"I can guess what happened," Soul interjected. He had been watching Maka and her reaction. _This is not good, _he thought._ Best for me to say it rather than the witch. Don't want Maka to break the truce. _ "She was playing around with Black Blood and it got out of control, she got infected. That's where she got the name Deity from isn't it? Japanese for God or deities."

Maka's face was white. "My mother would never do something like that!" she exclaimed.

Marie cringed. _Her mother, this is not good, _she thought. "She didn't mean to, there was an accident." Marie spoke this softly, looking at Maka.

Maka shook her head, "My mother would never make such a mistake."

Marie continued, "What happened initially is about the only thing the people I spoke to were sure of. After that the energies made scrying more difficult. She slipped. Just a simple slip from water on the floor. She dropped a beaker full of Black Blood and fell on top of it. I'm sorry Maka, maybe the story I heard is wrong or maybe it's just a similar name."

_Poor Maka, _Soul thought. _First finding out her father isn't her father and now hearing that her mother has become a demon. _He moved closer to his meister and placed an arm around her shoulders. "It would explain why we were rushed out of the academy," he said softly. "Lord Death was trying to protect you."

"There's only one meister with that name." Maka spoke slowly. "Either you're lying or it's her." Marie kept quiet, realizing Maka in her current state was very close to breaking the deal and the truce. If that were to happen Marie would die, she had no illusions about being able to fight someone who could kill a witch like Medusa.

"Wait here, please," Soul said, speaking to Marie and Donna. Then he gently tugged Maka out of her chair and over to the table they had been sitting at previously. Reaching into Maka's pocket he took out a marker and a piece of reflective paper. With one arm still around her, comforting her, he wrote on the paper 42-42-564. He waited until Lord Death appeared. Interrupting whatever Lord Death was going to say Soul asked, "Is Maka's mother now a kishin?"

There was a long wait before the response came. "She is." Lord Death answered. "I had hoped that by sending the two of you to Houston I would keep her out of the fight. It was decided that Maka's emotional well-being could be permanently damaged if she had to face her mother in a fight."

Soul sighed. "Then we should remain here?" he asked.

Lord Death nodded. "If you can convince her to stay there until this is over."

"And there is no gathering of witches here for us to destroy?" Soul asked.

"No. I have sensed the aura of one witch there but the odds of finding her are slight." Lord Death answered.

"And Kami?" Soul asked.

"We will deal with her," Lord Death answered. Soul thought he sounded a little uncertain of that.

'How bad is the madness?" Soul wanted to know.

"It's different from Asura. Kami's madness seems to be religious in nature. She has used the illusions created with that madness to consume the souls of people in several small towns," Lord Death answered. Then he added, "She doesn't seem to have the same vulnerability that Asura had. As a kishin she is vastly different."

Soul sighed. He looked at Maka, turned to the image of Lord Death on the paper and said, "I've got to see to Maka." Without waiting for a reply he folded up the paper and put it away.

"My mother is gone," Maka said. "I had questions I will never get to ask now. Things I wanted to say to her. Why did she leave me Soul? Wasn't I good enough?"

Soul wondered how he could answer. The simple truth he decided. "You were good enough Maka. More than good enough." He kissed her gently and pulled her close. Looking up he noticed that someone had finally noticed that there were two kids in the club. Both Donna and Marie were talking, keeping them at bay. The person turned and left while Donna and Marie returned to their table. He wondered if Marie had used magic to influence the person and then decided she hadn't. That would have required her to dispel her Soul Protect and that would have alarmed Maka no matter what her state was.

'What do we do now Soul? Maka asked.

Soul thought for a very seconds. "Not sure what you mean Maka. We stay here, like Lord Death wants us to."

'We can't do that. We need to get back to Death City and help out." Maka stated.

"No we don't Maka," Soul replied.

"Of course we do Soul," Maka looked at him with disbelief. "We can't just wait it out here."

"Sure we can Maka," Soul answered.

"Soul we can't do that. We need to book a flight back and get moving." Maka's mind started making plans again, forcing other thoughts out of her mind.

"Maka, we stay here. There is nothing we can do back at Death City to help out. Are you at one-hundred percent Maka, like we need to be for a fight? Or even fifty percent?" Soul asked.

Maka considered. "More like one percent, but there will be something we can do to help."

"No, Maka. Lord Death is right and we were sent here for a reason. If you face your mother in a fight you would not be a benefit to the team. Do you think you could manage a Chain Resonance now with Kid, Black Star, Tsubaki, Liz, Patty, and me?"

Soul's eyes, peering into hers demanded an answer. Cringing she answered honestly, "Probably not."

"So, when we are there fighting and we need to use Chain Resonance, what happens when we fail to? We get hurt! Our team members get hurt. Maka can you face your mother in a fight to the death?" Soul demanded.

"No," she answered back, quietly. "I wouldn't be able to try and hurt her. I love her Soul. I don't want her to die. I just want her to be my mother." Maka sobbed.

Soul held her. "What we do Maka is sit here. We keep track of what is happening and brainstorm ideas. We talk to Marie and see what she knows. That is our part in this fight." He kissed her. "You will sit here while I talk to Marie okay?" Maka nodded.

Donna and Marie, who had been watching the two closely, noticed his approach and stopped their own talk. "How is she?" asked Marie, genuine concern in her voice.

"She will be okay. I hope." Soul sat down across from the two. "So, what more do you know about Kami?" He looked tired, Marie noted, and very worried.

"Not much I'm afraid." Marie admitted. "She's way more powerful than any witch so it's hard to scry on her. We know when she uses her illusions to control people on a large scale, like when she destroys a town. We know the illusions are of a religious nature." Marie looked down, away from his gaze. "I grabbed the deal, of course. I was hoping what little I did know would satisfy you. But Lord Death would already know everything I know. Given that you managed to defeat Asura along with Arachne and Medusa at the same time I would have thought Kami would have been dealt with by now."

"I don't think Kami will play by the same rules Asura did," Soul answered. "I know if I were her I wouldn't. As a strategist Asura sucked. Kami on the other hand is brilliant."

"I don't like the sound of that," Marie said. She looked at Donna. "Bad enough living forever and losing friends to time. I don't want to lose more friends." Her voice was breaking.

"Is that what you were weeping about earlier?" Soul asked.

"Sort of. Was thinking back when I first knew I was a witch. There were no witches around the area I lived in so while I knew I was different I didn't know I was a witch until I was fifteen. When I learned I rejected the whole idea and refused to learn how to use my magic. I just wanted to be human and the Sway of Magic terrified me. I didn't want to become a monster." Tears began to run down Marie's face again. "So I tried to be human. I found someone to love and was happy, so happy. But they found us together and to them two women together was sacrilege, an abomination. They burned her at the stake, I watched her die, unable to do a thing to help her because I didn't know how to use the magic I had. I killed her. They burned me too and I wanted to die, to be with her. But while my flesh burned enough at the stake to make them think I was dead my magic regenerated me. I was alive and she was dead."

"I'm sorry." Soul said, taken back by the grief of a witch.

"Get me something to drink?" Marie asked Donna who immediately left for the bar.

"Thanks for the help Marie," Soul said. He reached out and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Take care."

"You too Soul," Marie answered. "Neither you nor Maka are what I expected from a demon weapon and meister."

"Just be careful. Not all meisters are as soft-hearted as Maka." He left to get Maka.

Once more beside Maka he asked, 'Ready to head back to the hotel?"

Maka shook her head. "I would rather go home. I want my own room and my own bed."

"Me too Maka." He pulled her to her feet. "We will get a taxi back to the hotel."

By the time they got back to the hotel it was nearly six in the morning. Maka staggered to her bed and fell on it, pausing only to take off her boots. Soul watched her for a moment, then led down beside her. She looked at him. "Sleep Maka, we both need it." She nodded.

* * *

><p>Lord Death stood in the Death Room frustrated. The fight was not going well, mainly because there was no actual fighting. Kami knew Lord Death, even with Asura's death, could not move from Death City. She was avoiding the place. He sent out his Death Scythes but she did not stay in one place long enough for them to find her. She consumed a town, then vanished before they could arrive. The number of souls she had consumed was rapidly growing. Each soul adding to her power.<p>

"She is already more powerful than Asura," Spirit commented. He looked tired and the weariness could be heard in his voice. "He never consumed the number of souls Kami already has."

"And she will not have his weaknesses," Lord Death added. "Asura could be defeated by courage because he had none, it is what drove him to become a kishin in the first place. Kami had more courage than most. She became a kishin by accident. Without that weakness she will soon be capable of defeating me easily." He turned to Stein. "You should however keep up your research. Finding such a weakness such as Maka found in Asura is our only hope."

Stein nodded. "Everything has a weakness. Finding it in time however may be a problem. I expect she will soon change her pattern."

* * *

><p>The town lay dead except for those unable to heed her summons. Another three thousand souls consumed. KamiGod/Deity yawned. _So easy, _she thought. She looked at the trail of corpses she had left through the town. _Maybe time I tried a city. _She considered her strategy. _No Death Scythe can match me now, so why not feed on a larger number of souls and let them come to me? Defeat them. Then Lord Death will be alone, trapped in his city and the world will be mine. He will watch it all descend in madness._ She felt the approach of a number of Death Scythe and flung herself into the sky, out racing them easily.

She descended after less than an hour, having traversed more than a thousand kilometers. _Oh well, no need to rush things, _she thought. _One more town and then on to the cities. _She looked around. _This will do nicely. _She wove her illusion of paradise and the people answered. One by one she fed on their souls, walking slowly through the town so that the piles of corpses did not build a wall between her and her prey.

_Another eight thousand. _She smiled. _Now where is a nice, fat, juicy, city I can devour._ She thought for a moment. Other than the last town she had been choosing her feeding spots at random to avoid Lord Death predicting her next move. She pulled out the map she had been using and tossed it into the air. Before it could fall to the ground she flung a small pebble at it. She picked up the map and studied it, finding the hole the pebble had made. _Houston, _she thought happily.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Sadly I do NOT own Soul Eater.

Rated M for 'indecent' moments.

* * *

><p>Kami fled through the sky, heading towards the city she hoped to bring death to, observing every minuscule detail of the land below as she passed. She paused in her flight. Turning she head upwards until she passed beyond the atmosphere and into the dead cold of space. Her body accepted this new environment without difficulty. She continued her flight upward until she could see all of the world. <em>It has a soul, <em>she realized, looking down._ The world has a soul. When the world is dead I will feast on it. The power of such a soul will be delicious. _Excitement filled her.

* * *

><p>Donna stirred awake, slowly, with reluctance. <em>So warm and comfy, <em>she thought. Then memories of the night before. The two children that had been able to frighten Marie. The weird conversation that those three had had, the one which she could not follow even half of. _Meister? Soul Protect? Kishin? Medusa? Asura? Deity? Witch?_ The last stirred her to full awakeness. She saw brown hair on the pillow across from her. _They called her a witch, _Donna remembered, _and she did nothing to counter the claim. What did they mean by that, I wonder._ She reached out a finger to gently move that silky brown hair away from the face it covered. _Doesn't matter, _she realized_, I love her anyway. Doesn't she realize that the reason I don't settle down with anyone is because they can't compare to her. The way her voice sounds, so full of emotion. Those weirdly beautiful eyes that seem to smile. At least when she isn't remembering. Now I know what she is remembering. Poor Marie._ One of those weirdly beautiful eyes opened and smiled back at her.

"Morning." Marie's voice broke the silence.

"Morning." Donna answered back.

Marie gazed at those blue eyes across from her, remembering how Donna had refused to leave her during the night, afraid those _children_ as she called them would return. They had ended up here, together. _Not that I'm complaining, _Marie though, remembering how that had spent the early morning hours_. _"Thinking about last night?" Marie asked.

Donna nodded. "I still don't know why you are afraid of a couple of kids."

"Perhaps it would help if you stopped calling them kids." Marie stretched, noticed the look on Donna's face, and grinned.

"How old were they then?" Donna finally asked, needing a few moments to get her mind back on track.

"Around sixteen. Either close to it or a little over their sixteenth birthdays." Marie answered without hesitation.

"You called them meister and weapon?" Donna hesitantly questioned, not sure if Marie would talk more about the matter or not. Not sure if she herself wanted to know.

"I did." Marie studied Donna for a few seconds. "You're wondering just what a meister is aren't you and what I meant by weapon? Though I bet you're even more curious about what they meant when they called me a witch."

"Are you actually more than four hundred years old? I sort of thought you were making stuff up to humor some crazy kids. I know you haven't changed in eighteen years, but people don't live to be that old." Donna said.

"Witches do." Marie answered back with a straight face. Donna with that confused look was a very cute Donna.

"What's a witch?" Donna asked with some reluctance.

"Generally a mean person who does evil stuff." Marie answered.

"That doesn't describe you. You are the opposite of that." Donna countered immediately and with some force, causing Marie to smile.

"I did say generally. You remember how they asked if I was affected by the Sway of Magic?" Marie asked and Donna nodded. "Well, as witches mature the Sway of Magic usually corrupts them. They become very destructive. There are a few, very few, exempt from this. I'm one of them. It was a witch that freed the last kishin from where it was imprisoned. Meisters and weapons keep witches, along with Evil Humans and kishin, in check."

Donna stared. "You're not joking with me are you?"

"No. But you can pretend I am if you want to and forget this," Marie answered, her tone serious. "Or if you want to ask questions I will try to answer them." Marie wondered which the woman would choose.

Donna was quiet for a long time. Finally she spoke. "Tell me about her."

"Her?" Marie questioned, her voice quiet.

Donna reached out a hand and stroked Marie's cheek. "Your first lover. The one you weep over so often. What was she like?"

Marie closed her eyes, feeling Donna's hand on her cheek. She began to speak. She spoke of how generous Julia had been. How full of mischief at times, liking to pull harmless pranks on her. The sound of her voice and how she had the energy to laugh even during harvest season. Her blonde hair with the sun on it, her bright emerald green eyes. And then she spoke of the trial, the torture, how she had watched Julia's skin blacken in the flames, the sound of her screams, the smell of her burning flesh as the wind brought it to her, the hissing sound of the fat running from her skin and falling into the flames. She spoke of how those images haunted her dreams each night, and as she spoke she felt the burden lessen, shared by the lover who now held her and listened to her every word.

* * *

><p>Maka was on the hill once again. The bench near by. The paths in plain view before her. Sitting down she closed her eyes and let the scents and sounds of the place surround her. <em>This is so peaceful,<em> she thought, refusing to give in to the despair that was ripping at her heart. _I wonder if Lord Death will show up again? Probably not, he must be pretty busy with my mother. _The last word echoed in her thoughts. _My mother._ She opened her eyes and watched some baby rabbits as they gathered around a bush. _The same rabbits as from before? _she wondered.

The paths drew her attention. _I wonder if there is some lesson I am supposed to learn this time, _Maka wondered. She studied the people and saw nothing that she had not seen the last time she was here. _Maybe not._ She sighed. _I wonder if any of them have ever felt like this. So alone. _She studied the path some more, focusing on the people, wondering what events had shaped their lives. She wondered what events had shaped her mother's life. Maka stood and paced, walking back and forth in front of the bench. Spotting a small patch of strawberries she stopped and picked one. It was delicious. Like so many things it reminded her of her father. Ice cream and strawberries for dessert at so many meals.

Maka stopped her pacing. _So many memories of my father, _she thought, _but what are the memories of my mother? So few. Before I was ten I can hardly recall her at all. She ate some of the meals with us but then disappeared. Always training, always trying harder, always reaching..._ The thought bouncing around in her head evaded her grasp. _Always reaching... for what? Deity. Kami. God. The three words focused her thoughts. Always reaching for perfection. She was trying to live up to her name, the name her parents gave her and to their expectations of her._ Sadness overtook Maka then. _It was no accident, _she realized. _It was what she wanted. She had tried her best and had fallen short of perfection. Stein was still the better meister. She had no fame or glory or power that would proclaim her perfection to the world. Someone trained like her doesn't just let a beaker full of Black Blood drop, and they don't just fall on top of it. It was what she wanted. No, it was what she needed. It was her last chance._

Maka thought of her own life. _It's not perfect, _she thought, _but it is damn good. She thought of her friends. Of Tsubaki. Of Liz and that insane flirting. _Maka grinned at that. _Of all the others. And of Soul. My mother, _Maka realized, _never had the types of feelings for Spirit that I have for Soul. To her it would have been all about perfection, calculated to achieve a certain goal. That is where I came from. My mother did love someone, but love wasn't enough. _ Maka paced some more. _A life spent chasing an impossible dream. Which is okay if the fun is in the chasing. But my mother didn't have fun, she sacrificed for her dream needing to reach the impossible, and she must have hated every moment of it. I know she loved me, but each time she saw me I must have reminded her of her sacrifices. And what of the person she did love? Did they eventually find someone and marry, and be happy? How that must have hurt her._

She sat back down on the bench and wept, no longer weeping for herself, but for her mother. _Poor Kami, _thought Maka, _poor momma._

* * *

><p>Far above Kami let herself drop, falling towards the earth. Turning she continued on to her destination<em>. When I consume the soul of the world then I shall have all power! I will be perfect! <em> She thought. The atmosphere burned as she entered it. A number of children below, seeing it, made a wish on the falling star.

* * *

><p>It was approaching twelve noon when Soul woke. He stretched, careful not to disturb Maka. Watching her sleep he reached out and brushed a few strands of hair away from her face. His nose twitched. <em>Cigarette smoke, <em>he realized missing the familiar smell of strawberries. Green eyes opened to stare back at his own.

"How are you?" he asked, noting she seemed to be doing better.

"Pretty good." she answered back. Maka noticed his surprise to her response. "Well Soul, I am in bed with the guy I love. Things can't be all that bad." She jested with him and pulled him down for a kiss.

"EW!" They both exclaimed.

"Guess that is what they mean by morning breath." Maka stated.

"Guess so." Soul answered. He held his hand in front of his mouth, breathed, and then sniffed. His face went white and he fell from the bed. "I'm never eating extra spicy chicken wings again unless I got a toothbrush and mouthwash handy." He climbed back into his former place.

"I think I will be skipping them too from now on." Maka added.

"Love huh?" Soul finally said.

"Yes." Maka didn't hesitate over her response.

Soul grinned at her. "Remind me when we get back to play the song I'm writing. It's called 'Maka'."

"A song? About me?" Maka was pleased.

"It's just half finished. I can't seem to get it right. But it's so much fun trying." Soul looked at her. "Maka, are you sure you're alright?" His voice was filled with concern.

"I am." She answered after a pause. "I haven't seen her for years Soul. While I love her I've already mourned her loss from my life." She reached out and took his hand, studying it. "It hurts, but so long as you're with me I can manage. Eventually they will kill her. And there will be a ceremony. And I will cry. You will be with me right?"

"Of course!" Soul simply stated. "I love you." Maka smiled at his response, content.

Silence descended upon the room. After several minutes relaxing peacefully beside his meister Soul asked, "So what's the plan for today?" He toyed with her hair.

"Hrm." Maka thought. "First we both need a shower." She sniffed. "With me being the first one in. Then some food. After which we brainstorm on the Deity problem." She thought some more. "Then tonight we try to get into another club."

"So you liked the club?" Soul asked with a grin.

Maka nodded. "But this time Soul we don't stay out until six am." She mimicked his cool face and said, "Waking up at noon is so not cool." Soul laughed at her.

Maka left to take her shower. Briefly she wondered what it would be like to invite Soul in with her. _Not today, but one day not too far off._ She smiled at the thought._ We are not ready for that yet. We haven't even resolved the boyfriend/girlfriend stuff yet.  
><em>

"Eat out or order room service?" Maka asked an hour later.

Soul considered. "It's not often we're in a city this size with time to sight see. Let see what sort of malls this place has and eat there."

Maka nodded and leafed through the pamphlets they had on the city. "The Galleria, she finally stated. Three hundred and seventy-five stores! One of them has to be a place we can eat at."

"Did you say three hundred and seventy-five?" Soul asked. Maka nodded. Soul grinned. "So glad we're not here to hunt witches anymore Maka. I think even searching the malls would be beyond us."

"Well, it certainly has restaurants," Maka commented after a twenty minute taxi drive. "Any idea which place would be good to try?"

"Can't be too expensive. We do after all have to turn in the receipts for our meals. Let's see." He scanned down the list in the booklet he held. "Well, since we know nothing about most of them." He closed his eyes, held the booklet out in front of him and pointed blindly.

He and Maka, sat at their booth, quietly eating. Soul with a massive steak in front of him, Maka with some sort of salad he didn't recognize. Something Mediterranean. It looked interesting. He reached out and grabbed a forkful from her plate. He ignored her glare as he tried it. "Good," he commented.

"How's the steak," she asked as a reply and he pushed his plate close enough to her that she could cut off a piece to try. "Not bad." _It must be love if he's willing to share his steak with me, _Maka thought grinning.

"I should have tried ordering one of their wines," Soul commented.

"It's not dark here Soul. No way it would have worked." Maka chewed on her salad. _Different, but good, _she thought. Stretching she reached across the table and sliced off some more of Soul's steak. Soul stole more of her salad. _Not perfect, but damn good,_ Maka thought, considering her life once again.

She felt a tingle that seems to tug at her soul. She paused, confused. Looking at Soul she noticed he too had paused. "That way," he pointed. "Something in that direction." She heard the confusion in his voice.

Then she felt the bliss. Pure ecstatic feeling flooded through her. The rapture. She resisted the urge to follow it, knowing what it was. "Kami is here!" She stated and Soul nodded at her. He too was having trouble resisting the siren's call to death. "Scythe now." And he obeyed even before the command was finished. Resonating souls helped to block out the nearly irresistible call. Looking around she saw the restaurant had nearly emptied, the people flocking to the call like sheep.

A short distance away Marie felt the same tingle, the same siren call of bliss. Immediately she reached inside of herself, touching her soul, using it as a shield. _That is the Deity, _she realized, fear in her thoughts. _Where is Donna? _Panic filled her. _The call is coming from that way, _she turned to face it. _The store Donna was going to is in that direction._ She moved in that direction, carefully scanning the area. _Where is Donna? _She sent out her mind, searching for the soul that was so familiar, and found it. Though it seemed fuzzy. Then the soul vanished from her sight. _The power of the illusion is blocking my ability to scan for her, _Marie realized. _And in this place there is no way I can find her. Not among the tens of thousands of people that will soon flood this area._ The witch moved towards the call.

_This is not good, _Maka thought. _Can I face my mother in a battle to the death? _ She focused on the call, moving towards it. Maka twirled, surprised, acting on reflect as she felt a witch's unprotected purple soul behind her. Soul was raised in front of her, between her and Marie, before she realized who it was. "What are you doing here?" Maka hissed, considering it unlikely pure chance had brought the witch here.

"Donna is in there somewhere." Marie replied, frozen still as she stared at the scythe in Maka's hands.

Maka stared at Marie and understood. "The witch would get Donna out of there safe and sound, or die trying." Maka nodded and lowered Soul.

"Don't supposed you have any ideas on how to fight her?" Maka asked.

"No. From what I sense she must have consumed nearly a hundred thousand souls from all those towns she preyed on. I doubt even Lord Death would be much of a match for her now." Marie felt sad, yet happy at the same time. _This time I will die in the flames too, _she thought. "I take it the trick or whatever it was you used on Asura won't work on her?" She asked Maka.

"Doubt it, but it's all I got." Maka's voice was soft. She wished now she had invited Soul into the shower earlier. _Wish I had known him that way before we died, _she thought. "Getting close enough to even try is going to be nearly impossible," she added.

Marie looked at the meister, thinking. _I can't find Donna in all this. But I can find the Deity. There were thousands closer to her than Donna, it will take time to eat all those souls. If the Deity can be killed quick enough then Donna will still be alive._ "I can help with that, use Chain Resonance and link me in." She told Maka.

Maka hesitated. She felt Soul urging her to accept the offer. Trusting Soul's judgement she did so, surprised at how easily she linked her and Soul's soul with that of the witch. Marie began talking again. "I'm not much for destructive magic so no help there but at regenerative and warding magic I'm the best there is. It's why I'm still alive even though most other witches hate me. But this is no witch so I doubt my wards will last long. My advice, hit fast and hit hard before I'm out of energy."

Maka nodded. "It what we always do," she said. "Now lets get close. Those people are moving slow in that dazed state so we should be able to get ahead of most of them before she has a shield of them surrounding her."

The three moved quickly, moving at a quick jog. Soul carried by Maka in weapon form. _She's just outside the building, _Maka realized. _She's calling the people out. _Outside Maka scanned the area in front of her. _Too late, there's already a crowd around her. _Marie pointed up. Maka looked up and nodded. "Start playing Soul." she commanded and climbed the telephone pole.

_Start playing? _Marie wondered. Then the sound of the piano filled her soul and she understood, sort of. _A way to enhance our powers. Maybe instead of five seconds protection against that demon I can give her ten._

Maka stood on the wire next to the pole while Marie stood on the pole. "You stay here and keep me shielded as best you can," Maka told Marie who nodded. "No need for all three of us to be out there as targets," Maka added. She turned and looked down at her mother no more than eighty feet up the road. _Either she doesn't know we're here or she doesn't care, _Maka thought. _More likely she doesn't care. We can't seem like much of a threat to her._

Maka hurled herself along the wire, closing the distance in seconds. Just a few feet from her mother's location she leaped off the wire. Before she could fall the twenty feet to the ground her mother turned, looked up at her, and flung four balls of energy of some type Maka didn't know straight at her. In mid air, unable to dodge she had no choice. Winching, Maka held Soul in front of her. She felt the shudder as the first ball of energy impacted him, Marie's wards flaring into full power, directing the energy away. As it did with the second. The third ball shattered the wards, but not before it was itself dissipated. The fourth ball impacted Soul and Maka felt him scream. Yet he held his weapon form, even as several cracks appeared within the blade that had took the brunt of the attack.

Still falling Maka felt the Black Blood within Soul combined with Marie's regenerative power, enhanced by the music, heal the cracks nearly instantaneously. Her mother looked surprised as Maka landed on her feet beside her and swung Soul at her. Maka focused. Recalling the fight between her and Asura. _Courage, _she thought and made herself believe this would work.

The Deity was surprised. A single one of those blasts, fragments of her soul's energy, would have shattered a normal demon weapon. _My daughter, _she realized with pride. _Too bad I've got to kill her._ The demon weapon sliced against her flesh and she felt nothing. The wound closing as fast as the blade slide through her. Not a single drop of blood fell to the ground or marred her flesh. She flung out her hand and her daughter flew away from her, a mass of shattered flesh as another fragment of the Deity's soul energy was pumped directly into her flesh.

Maka knew failure. The attack had no affect on the mother, not even enough to make her blink. Then her mother had reached out and Maka felt pain. She flew away from her mother, tossed thirty feet into the air by the impact. She fell to the ground, her body shattered. Darkness closed in and she closed her eyes. Dimly she heard Soul still playing. And she felt something push against the darkness, Black Blood combined with Marie's magic, enhanced with Soul's music. Pain filled her again as her bones mended and the wounds in her flesh sealed themselves shut.

_It was a good try, _Marie thought, looking down at the battered meister_. _She felt her power flowing into the girl, regenerating her death wounds in seconds. _Amazing that she kept up the Chain Resonance even through that. No, not amazing. Impossible. And she would have been dead if she hadn't. _The witch looked down at the now whole meister, her respect for the girl increasing ten-fold_. _And for the demon weapon by her side from whom the music kept coming_. Black Blood, _she realized.

Maka got to her knees and the music stopped. Soul returned to his human form, still lying on the ground, exhausted. Marie stood beside them. People walked past them, slowly moving towards their demise. "Damn it!" Maka exclaimed. "If the same trick was going to work it would have." She turned to the other two. "Asura was a coward, courage was his weakness. My mother is no coward."

Soul thought for a few moments. "Was Asura a coward?" he finally asked.

"Of course," Maka answered immediately. "Why else would courage have worked against him."

"No, he had courage. He was one of Lord Death's best at the time. He was in any number of fights and didn't run away." Soul talked slowly, thinking.

Maka realized it was true. Asura had felt fear, fear beyond belief, yet he had become one of Lord Death's best followers. If he had not walked towards fights, refusing that fear, then there is no way he could have reached that position. "Then how did courage work against him?" she asked.

"Good question," Soul answered. "Perhaps courage was something he had at the start and the fears eventually wore it away. Or maybe he just decided to throw it away."

"Throw it away?" This was Marie questioning the concept.

Soul nodded. "Perhaps Asura, faced with the madness of the world, sacrificed his courage to become a kishin." Soul paused. "What did your mother sacrifice to become a kishin. Nothing. She became one by accident."

"No, she didn't," Maka said. She looked down at the ground. "She wanted it. She wanted the power of a kishin in order to achieve perfection. And to do so she threw everything away."

Marie was thinking. _The thing they throw away that was the most important to them is what they become vulnerable to. It fitted with the ways of magic perfectly._ She finally understood what Soul was getting at. "Maka, of the things she threw away, which was most important to her."

Maka thought for a few seconds. "Love," she finally answered. "My mother knew love, but tossed it aside in her pursuit of perfection."

The three looked at each other. "Get ready again," Maka ordered the two, wondering if they could survive another attack like the last. The two nodded. Soul shifted to Weapon form and Maka took him. She Resonated her soul first with him and then using Chain Resonate with Marie. The crowd still blocking access to her mother left the same telephone wire as the only route to her. Maka climbed the pole.

"My advice," Marie spoke, "is to try and avoid some of the attacks this time. I'm running low."

Maka nodded. "Music Soul," she ordered and he began to play. _One last chance, _she thought, _if we're extremely lucky._

The Deity looked up, amazed. _Still alive?_ she thought, _and still able to attack. _She watched as her daughter hurled herself across the wires again. She waited until the moment her daughter was committed to her jump and flung out more fragments of her soul's energy, only to watch as Maka hooked Soul onto one of the wires at the last second, changing her downward trajectory slightly. Just enough that the blasts of energy missed her.

Maka dropped to the ground just ten feet behind her mother and charged. The woman flung out more of those devastating energy blasts. Maka dodged yet necessity forced her to use Soul to deflect one of the energy balls. She felt the wards around him fade, having only protected him from one attack this time. Maka used the Demon-Hunt Slash hoping to distract her mother. As expected her mother ignored the attack as something not worth bothering with. More energy blasts came her way and Maka used Soul to deflect them. She heard that scream again, yet again he held his weapon form. The cracks as before healed instantaneously. Through the Chain Resonance link Maka felt Marie's energy level drop. Maka screamed frustration. For this too work she need to make physical contact with her mother.

_Only one way, _she realized, _I'm sorry Soul. _She charged her mother, ceasing attempts at evasion, hoping her mother would not have time to react. Another blast struck Soul and he healed, as before. Thought slower this time. Maka dodged the next attack and swung Soul. Her mother reacted the same as before, not expecting the scythe to harm her. Yet the dodge had messed up Maka's swing and it fell short. _Damn! _Maka thought, screaming to herself. Then she saw that the swing had not entirely missed. Her mother had had her hand raised reading another blast when she had swung. Her fingers fell to the ground.

The Deity stared, astonished, as the demon blade sliced through her fingers and she felt pain. _Pain? _she wondered. And then more amazement as her fingers popped into little puffs of light as they fell and vanished. She looked at her hand, light burned from the tips where her severed fingers had been. _Pain? _she thought again. Then the light spread and her hand flared and vanished. More pain. Panicked, before the light could spread further, she reached out and used her left arm to firmly grasp her right and tear it from her. _Pain, _she thought. _I can still be hurt. Impossible. How?_ She let the arm drop and it flared into nothingness.

"Maka, damn it, keep up the attack!" Soul's voice echoed through their Resonance link. Maka, just regaining her balance after the dodge and swing that had cost her mother her fingers, hurled herself forward again just as her mother dropped her arm. Maka swung again, this time her mother stepped back, reflexively in fear. The hand her mother had raised in protection slid off its wrist as the blade sliced through. Maka raised Soul for another swing when her mother's eyes blazed orange and she felt herself flung backwards again, body flung into the air as before.

The Deity watched as her hand fell, flaming into light, vanishing before it hit the ground. _It will be okay, _she thought. _My right arm is nearly regenerated. I can just use it to tear out the left. _Then she looked at her chest. The thin scratch there. A line of fire flickered across it. The Deity screamed as the light took her and turned her to nothing. Around the blaze of light nearly a hundred thousand souls raised through the air.

Drained Marie slid down the telephone pole and moved to the body of Maka. _She is still maintaining the Chain Resonance, _Marie thought. _How the bloody hell is she doing that? And how can Soul be still maintaining his weapon form. Impossible. _Marie touched the body and poured as much of her energy into it as she could. There wasn't much left. _Just heal the fatal wounds, leave the rest for later. _Exhausted she fell in a heap beside the meister who was now merely severely wounded. She watched, amazed, as black blood seeped from her wounds and sealed them shut. She still heard the music playing, though more faintly and as though its playing took a great effort. The music and the Chain Resonance ended.

Soul returned to human form and crawled to Maka. "She will be fine," he heard Marie saying. The witch laying on the ground mere inches from her. He still carefully checked her wounds and noted that Marie was right. Though badly hurt she would live. He lowered his head to her chest and wept in relief.

Marie wearily raised her head, trying to find the energy to use her magic to look for Donna. _She was far enough away that the Diety shouldn't have had time to feed on her, _Marie hoped. Maka moved, drawing her attention. The meister slowly moved her arm and pointed. "That way, around two hundred feet. She's okay." The arm fell back to the ground. "Better grab her and get moving before some meister or Death Scythe arrives." Maka added, barely able to whisper. Marie nodded and got to her feet. The only thing fueling the superhuman effort were thoughts of Donna.

Maka fell back into unconsciousness, only awakening briefly twenty minutes later to see Tsubaki and Liz peering worriedly at her. Soul, as always beside her. _Hope Marie is out of here by now, _she thought looking worriedly at Soul. He nodded, knowing the question on her mind. Relieved she fell back into the darkness.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Sadly I do NOT own Soul Eater.

Rated M for 'indecent' moments.

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><p><em>No, no no,... <em>Maka thought, trying to hold onto the dream she had been having about Soul. Admitting that the dream was beyond recall, and that she was now fully awake, she reluctantly opened her eyes to see Liz and Tsubaki peering at her.

"Must have been some dream you were having," Liz commented. Her tone indicated amusement, but Maka could see worry in her eyes.

Maka blushed, hoping she had not said or done anything too embarrassing in her sleep. "What are you guys doing in my room?" she asked. Looking around, noting she was in the dispensary, she added, "oh," as she recalled the events of the past few days. Stretching she felt some remnants of pain but otherwise was almost fully healed. _Seems Kim worked on me some, _she concluded, glad to be escaping a couple of weeks recuperating.

"You're looking a lot better than when we first found you." Tsubaki leaned over and gave her a small hug, careful to not squeeze too hard. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay. Guess it must have looked worse than it was." Maka reluctantly lied to her friend. Kim's status as a witch being a secret only a few members of the DWMA knew about. "Where's Soul? Is he okay?"

Liz and Tsubaki pointed. Maka turning saw Soul was sleeping on a cot not far from her. "He's okay." Tsubaki added.

Satisfied Maka settled back down, still aching some. "What happened after I got knocked out? Were the people under the illusions okay?"

"They were," Tsubaki answered. "Soon as the illusions stopped they woke up, dazed and confused but otherwise okay. We didn't get there until about twenty minutes after that though. There were some riots from panicking but nothing the police couldn't handle."

"How many dead?" Maka reluctantly asked.

Tsubaki looked away. "When we got there a little under a thousand."

"Altogether?" Maka asked. "How many people did my mother kill altogether?"

Tsubaki and Liz looked at each other. "Estimates are over a hundred thousand," Tsubaki finally admitted.

"Is she dead?" Maka asked, devoid of emotion at the news. _My mother killed a hundred thousand people._ The thought devastated her.

"You don't know?" Liz asked in reply.

Maka shook her head. "I think she is, I managed to hit her, but then she hit me and I didn't see what happened to her. I came to a few minutes later and the illusions were gone. I didn't actually see her die."

"She's dead," Tsubaki confirmed.

Maka closed her eyes. _I killed my own mother, _she thought, feeling a knife-like pain slash into her heart.

"No choice Maka, you know that." Soul was now at her side, having awoke at the sound of voices.

"I know." Maka's tone indicated otherwise. "I know," she said again, trying to make herself believe it. "I know it had to be done Soul. There were corpses all around her. A lot of them, I stepped on them during the fight." She looked up at him. "I want to go home." Soul nodded and helped her stand.

Twenty minutes later the two of them were in the kitchen of their apartment. Liz and Tsubaki had been stopped at the door. Maka was preparing a meal. _Trying to act as though everything was normal, _Soul realized. He watched as Maka took out some rice and tossed it into a pot of boiling water. "You know, I think it's my turn to cook," Soul stated. Maka shrugged.

"Don't you feel anything Soul?" Maka asked a few seconds later. "All those people."

"I do," Soul answered. Maka looked at him, waiting. Soul looked away. Maka saw tears on his face and didn't push. She turned back to the rice.

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><p>Classes were cancelled the next day. Too many people were still helping with the cleanup of the Deity mess. Maka had talked with her father a number of times, his concern for her obvious. His actions, though still embarrassing, were easier to tolerate now. <em>Still got to talk to him about that paper, <em>she thought, but it was something she couldn't do while he looked so broken. The news from Houston was good. The people under the influence of the illusions had returned to normal. Events had been explained away as broken gas lines that had been damaged throughout the area due to a minor earth tremor. Also, to Maka's relief, there had been no reports of a witch in the area by any member of the DWMA.

She leaned her head back, letting it rest against Soul. "Where's the gang?" she asked.

Maka felt Soul shrug. "Don't know," he replied.

"So what do you want to do?" she asked.

"What do you want to do?" he parroted back at her.

"Go to school and pretend nothing happened," she answered. She looked down at her brand new boots. She hadn't wanted to wear boots she had been using to _dance_ on corpses. She could still feel the way they had squished under her as she had dodged her mother's attacks.

Soul felt Maka shudder. Holding her he asked her, "how about instead we do something fun?"

"You mean like read? Since when are you into reading Soul?" Maka asked.

It was Soul noted, a poor attempt at a joke by Maka, but still an attempt. "We could go to the library or browse the bookstores?" he suggested.

_Things I would like to do, _Maka noted, appreciating Soul's efforts to cheer her up. _Wonder what he would like to do? I know. _Maka grinned. "Or we can do this." Maka turned and kissed him.

An hour later Maka sat beside Soul as he played the song he had written for her called _'Maka'._ Turning to her he asked, "So, does it meet my girlfriend's approval?"

It had taken her several seconds to realize what Soul had called her. 'It does," she had replied, smiling at her boyfriend.

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><p>The cleaver in Soul's hand blurred as he chopped meat for a simple beef stew. <em>At least it's not rice again,<em> Maka thought. She stretched and noticed Soul glance her way. "No need to make so much," Maka commented.

"Just as well. It won't hurt in the fridge for a few days and simpler to just heat something up than make it from scratch." The cleaver continued to blur.

"So this is just an attempt to get out of cooking when it's your turn again?" Maka questioned.

"Yep," came the response.

"Just like a guy." Maka grinned.

Soul looked at her. "Well, I could just make rice again next time I cook."

Maka made a face. "No. Leftover beef stew will be fine." Maka made a mental note to make double portions too the next time she cooked. "Hope classes go ahead as normal tomorrow."

Soul made a face, matching the one Maka had made a few moments before. "Maka don't wish for such a thing." He gave an exaggerated shudder.

Maka laughed and grinned at her boyfriend. _Boyfriend, _she thought, liking the way it sounded.

Soul looked at Maka as she laughed and thought, _girlfriend,_ also liking the sound of the word.

"I probably should review my notes from the last class." Maka said. "You probably should too. Knowing Stein there might be a pop quiz."

"Maka, studying is so uncool." Still he made no complaint an hour later when she dragged him to the couch and they sat down. He listened to her read the material and then they questioned each other on it.

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><p>It was Blair that woke Soul up the next morning. "Blair is here, did you miss Blair?" The cat in human form cheerfully asked Soul who was immediately wide awake and panicking.<p>

"Blair get off me before Maka sees you!" He tried to push her off him. The attempt was futile and eventually brought Maka to the room. **MAKA CHOP!** Soul slumped into a semi-conscious state. **MAKA CHOP! **Blair slumped down on top of him, a position that Maka did not like. **MAKA CHOP! ** Blair returned to cat form and scurried under the bed.

"Ouch! Maka why you hurt Blair?" The voice came from under the bed.

Soul sat up. "This has got to end." He rubbed his head and eyed an angry Maka. "Tell me how to stop her Maka and I will."

"As if you want her to." Maka was furious. A large book was in her hand, ready to fly.

Soul sighed and looked at the time. "Well, I would have much preferred another half hour of sleep than being mauled by a cat." He led back down on the bed.

Maka sighed. Blaming Soul she knew was wrong. _That damn cat! _she thought. "Whatever," she muttered.

Soul turned and peered under the bed. "You know Blair, Liz has been talking about a sexy kitten a lot lately. She was probably talking about you. Why don't you visit her?"

Blair crawled out from under the bed. "Really? Liz call Blair sexy kitten?" She purred.

Soul nodded. "She's always talking about her sexy kitten. I bet when she gets up she will want to take a bath."

At the word bath Blair had perked up even more. "Blair visit Liz now. Blair be her sexy kitten." The woman turned into a cat and jumped out the window.

Soul looked back up at Maka who was struggling to keep a grin off her face. "Well that sets the Liz project into action," she finally remarked.

"Why are you up so early?" Soul asked, as Maka sat down beside him. Reaching out he pulled her closer.

Snuggling against him she yawned. "Just going over notes again. Last few days haven't studied nearly as much as I should have." There was a long pause. "I know I overreact when it comes to Blair. Sorry. But I don't think I can stop. She has everything a guy wants in a woman and I just know you must see her that way."

Soul gave her comment some thought. "Nay, wasn't an overreaction that time. Before we were a couple it was but now I don't think it is. But you are wrong if you think she's what a man wants in a woman. For one thing she isn't a woman."

"My father seems to like her," Maka commented dryly.

"Maka, she's not even human!" Soul didn't know whether to be exasperated or amused at Maka.

"Got to be some way to stop her," Maka continued, not acknowledging Soul's comment.

"I could set traps around the bed." Soul was only half joking.

'Would you?" Maka asked. Soul stared at her for several seconds before he realized she was joking.

They snuggled together for a bit before Maka reluctantly pushed at him. "Get up and get ready for school or we're going to be late." Soul nodded and left the room.

* * *

><p>Liz woke up as a hundred pounds of voluptuous woman jumped on top of her. "Blair is here! Sexy kitten is here! Soul said Liz liked Blair! Liz called Blair her sexy kitten!" <em>Oh God no, <em>Liz thought as she was mauled by the cat. _Damn it Maka I will get you back for this._ She tried to push the cat off her, to no avail. Eventually her struggles brought Patty running.

"Sis, are you cheating on Maka now with Blair?" the younger sister asked grinning.

"Damn it Patty, help get her off me!" Liz's scream was loud enough to wake the dead. It did bring a Death God running to see what the trouble was.

Kid stared for a few seconds. "Oh! Sorry I barged in Liz," he finally said, red faced. "Thought you were in trouble, not that you had someone over." He fled.

"Sexy kitten want a bath. Liz take a bath with sexy kitten." Blair dragged the struggling woman up and went off in search of a bathtub. Patty was too busy laughing hysterically on the floor to even think about helping her sister.

* * *

><p>Maka dodged the book that came her way. <em>What the heck! <em>she thought, wondering where the projectile had come from. Another missed her head as she ducked. Turning around she spotted the source - a fuming Liz with a cart loaded full of books. The rain of literary material continued unabated for several minutes as Liz took one book after another and flung them at the evasive Maka. Finally, cart empty, Liz settled for just glaring at Maka.

"I take it you didn't like your wake-up call this morning?" Maka asked, rubbing her arm where one of the books had struck her a glancing blow.

"Not funny Maka. That cat almost mauled me to death." Liz's response made Maka grin.

"With all that talk about sexy kittens I thought you would have loved it." Maka answered.

"She almost drowned me. What sort of cat likes water any way?" Liz continued to glare.

Maka sniffed the air. "Is that you?" she asked.

"She uses pumpkin scented bubble bath Maka. I smell like a pumpkin." Liz turned her glare onto the empty cart wishing she had more books to throw.

"So what's with the books?" Maka wondered.

"I'm going to learn how to LIZ CHOP! people," Liz answered. "And you Maka are going to be my practice dummy. Now if you don't mind I need to pick these books up so I can practice on you again tomorrow."

"Where's Kid and Patty?" Maka asked conversationally as Liz started to pick up the books.

"Patty decided she liked the smell of the pumpkin bubble bath and is probably soaking in it right now. Kid, not sure there. Something about ordering some cement to fix the driveway I think." Liz picked up another book but it fell apart in her hands. "How come the books you MAKA CHOP! with never fall apart like that?"

Maka shrugged and started to help Liz gather the books. "Not sure. They probably should but for some reason they don't."

"Where's Soul?" Liz asked.

"He said he was going to the library but knowing him he's probably anywhere but there." Maka placed another book on the cart and wondered about the wisdom of helping Liz refill her ammunition.

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><p>Maka entered the apartment only to be hit with the overwhelming odor of lemons and oranges. She traced the source of the smell to Soul's room. Knocking she opened the door to find him sitting at his desk, writing what seemed to be music. He was wearing a mask to help cope with the smell. He tossed another mask to her and she put it on. "Soul?" she asked, her voice muffled.<p>

"Orange peels and lemon peels Maka. Supposed to keep cats away. Also got some bitter apple in case that doesn't work. So what's for dinner?"

"Anything but oranges and lemons," Maka uttered as she fled the room.

Twenty minutes later the two were in the kitchen preparing dinner as usual.

"You think that will keep Blair away?" Maka asked.

"Given a choice it would keep me away." Soul replied.

Maka shuddered. "Me too." She admitted.

"So you and Liz came to a truce?" Soul asked.

"Yeah. No more sexy kitten names and no more setting Blair on her. Knowing my luck thought this lemon and orange peel thing will work and Blair will move in with Liz. That would be great except I would end up having to dodge a couple of hundred books each morning." Maka cringed. Liz had thrown those books pretty hard.

"Wonder when classes will be starting again?" Soul wondered.

Maka grinned. "Missing them?" she asked.

"Heaven forbid Maka. Just wondering. Also curious about why they are being cancelled. There's no reason for the DWMA to be interested in Houston now." Soul lowered his voice a little. "Also worried about you know who with all those people from the DWMA running around there."

Maka nodded. "Me too but Marie can look after herself. She's been doing it for a long time." She stirred the canned soup she was heating up. "Weird isn't it. We've only seen her a few brief times yet still."

Soul nodded. "Though I have a feeling we're going to be seeing more of those two."

Maka poured some of the soup into two bowls. She placed the bowls on the table, along with some bread, and sat down. "Think so?" she asked.

Soul nodded again. "Just a weird feeling I have."

The two dug into their simple meal as thought it were a feast. Content just to be together.

**THE END**

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><p>Note: Obviously Blair would see through the trick Maka and Soul are playing on Liz and only goes along for the fun of it. According to the Wiki on her that is something Blair might do. Also, her being a cat, her actions can't be seen as sexual in nature.<p>

Had several items I wanted to include in this chapter to conclude the story but wasn't sure how to go about it. It's probably the least coherent chapter. Had to have them set Blair on Liz since it was talked about so much earlier. Had to take a brief look at how Maka and Soul would handle the aftermath of such a conflict. They had to become boyfriend/girlfriend. Soul had to play the 'Maka' song he was writing. Mainly thought wanted to end on a note where Maka and Soul are together in a more peaceful setting.

Maka didn't talk to Spirit about him not being her father. But that probably isn't something one would open a talk about at such a time. It just didn't seem to fit in.

Also left things open for a sequel should I ever decide to write one.

So ends my first FanFiction story.


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